Marcelo Mayer a big reason for the Red Sox farm system jumping from 24th to 12th in rankings
The Red Sox front office has been raving over Mayer since he was drafted in July.
The Red Sox are coming off a successful 2021 season where they finished two wins from going to the World Series. While the Red Sox were improving on the diamond, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom continued to work on revamping the club’s farm system. Bloom has preached longterm sustainability and according to MLB.com, Boston has the most improved farm system in 2021.
The Red Sox went from being ranked 24th in baseball back in March to 12th in just nine months.
“It’s never optimal to finish with one of the worst records in baseball, especially in a town like Boston, where competing annually is expected,” wrote MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo. “But a rough 2020 led to the Red Sox earning the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 Draft, the earliest Boston has picked since back in 1967 and the first top 10 selection since Andrew Benintendi became a member of the Red Sox as the No. 7 pick in 2015. That resulted in the Red Sox being able to add the player MLB Pipeline had at No. 1 on its 2021 Draft talent rankings, high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Add that to strong seasons from Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, surprising 2020 first-rounder Nick Yorke and right-hander Brayan Bello.”
One of the players responsible for the jump in rankings is Mayer. Boston’s draft war room was excited to see the 18-year-old fall to No. 4 overall.
Red Sox scouting director Paul Taboni spoke about the excitement of landing Mayer.
“It’s funny, there was like a slow trickle of excitement that worked around the room where scouts were getting notifications probably from friends or whoever it might be. It was cool to see, because there was genuine excitement on everyone’s face,” said Toboni.
“It’s funny, there was like a slow trickle of excitement that worked around the room where scouts were getting notifications probably from friends or whoever it might be. It was cool to see, because there was genuine excitement on everyone’s face,” said Toboni.
The Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham spoke to The Athletic back in December. Abraham gave his first impressions of Mayer saying, “I think extremely mature for his age, not only emotionally off the field but on the field as well, in terms of understanding what he needs to do to prepare for the season and going into the offseason.
I think he knows he has talent, but I also think he also knows he has a long way to go to be the impact player that he thinks, and we think, he can be. He’s a good listener. He’s open to adjustments, open to coaching, but also has the voice and the willingness to talk about what he thinks works for him,” added Abraham.
The 6-foot-3, 188-pound shortstop will only continue to get better as he develops within the system. In his first professional season, Mayer hit .275 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 26 games in the Florida Complex League.
Mayer is already getting comps to former Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.
"Mayer's defense at a premium position and sound swing and approach give him an easy projection of at least an above-average regular," Baseball America wrote. "His ultimate ceiling will be determined by whether he stays at shortstop or outgrows it, as well as how his power develops in pro ball."
The Red Sox system has improved dramatically under Bloom and Mayer is one of the big reasons for the system’s major jump in the rankings.
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