Red Sox trade Marcelo Mayer to Giants for lefty reliever who has had dominant year

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LOS ANGELES — On the same day they fortified their lineup by acquiring Adley Rutschman in a blockbuster trade with the Orioles, the Red Sox shipped Marcelo Mayer out of town for a reliever having a very strong season.

Boston made a deadline deal that sent Mayer to the Giants for left-handed reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Christian, sources confirmed Monday. The deal was first reported by The Athletic.

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The 2-for-1 deal ends an eventful — yet shorter than expected — tenure in the Red Sox organization for Mayer, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 draft. Mayer ended up playing just 114 games in two injury-shortened seasons in Boston. He was a change-of-scenery candidate at this deadline after struggling offensively to begin the year, then getting sidelined with a stress reaction in his left forearm.

Miller, 28, has been an unheralded yet dominant reliever for San Francisco this year. The 6-foot-5, 269-pound southpaw has logged a 2.76 ERA and recorded 45 strikeouts in 32 ⅔ innings and will join Justin Slaten, Tyron Guerrero, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman at the back end of a strong Red Sox bullpen. Miller is under team control through the end of the 2029 season.

Mayer, 23, was a hyped prospect as he rose through the minors after being given a $6.64 million signing bonus to turn pro out of a San Diego high school five years ago. Entering 2025, he was seen — along with Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell — as a member of the “Big Three,” a trio of prospects destined to lead the Red Sox for years to come. Mayer debuted in May and appeared in 44 games before his first big league season ended due to a wrist sprain in July. He impressed defensively at both third base and second base but struggled with the bat, hitting .228 with a .674 OPS.

This season, he entered camp as the presumed starter at second and — after repeated challenges by then-manager Alex Cora — won that job out of camp. Mayer started 39 games at second and 20 at shortstop once Trevor Story hit the injured list but never got his bat to heat up. In 228 plate appearances this year, he posted a 69 OPS+, hitting .220 with three doubles and 10 RBIs. Mayer was placed on the IL with the stress reaction on June 26 and hasn’t played since. It’s the latest injury setback for a player who had multiple minor league seasons end prematurely, but it’s not expected to keep him out for the rest of the year.

Mayer fell behind other infield options on the depth chart in recent weeks and his path to future playing time was made more complicated by the Red Sox acquiring second baseman Curtis Mead last week. Behind the scenes, as MassLive’s Sean McAdam reported in late June, there were detractors in the organization: “Some question his mental toughness and his tendency to withdraw during slumps. Others wonder if he couldn’t do a better job making himself more available through the day-to-day minor physical setbacks that inevitably occur.”

Miller, a former fourth-round pick out of Stanford, debuted as a starter for the Giants in 2024 and largely pitched well. He has been a full-time reliever for the last two seasons and has a 2.15 ERA and 9.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate in 62 ⅔ innings. He has saved four games for San Francisco this year, including two since July 27. This season, he has dominated both right-handed (.183 average, .642 OPS) and left-handed hitters (.214 average, .600 OPS).

Gutierrez, who turns 22 next month, has had a good offensive year at High-A Eugene, where he has hit .271 with nine homers, 45 RBIs and an .826 OPS in 83 games. The Mexico native — who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 180 pounds — was ranked as the No. 17 prospect in San Francisco’s system, per MLB Pipeline. He has almost exclusively played left field this season (other than nine innings in center) and 64-for-70 on stolen base attempts in four pro seasons.

The Mayer trade is the third of the day for the Red Sox, who acquired Rutschman from Baltimore for a hefty package headlined by catcher Carlos Narvaez and top pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon as well as trading righty Tyler Uberstine to Atlanta for outfielder Eli White. In total, Craig Breslow has made four swaps in the last 10 days, including the Mead-for-Connelly Early deal with Washington.

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