After a disastrous, pandemic-shortened 2020 season in which the Red Sox finished 24-36 and cycled through one of the worst pitching staffs in franchise history, at least one significant reward awaited them.<\/p>\n
The fourth overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, which Boston used on Eastlake High School shortstop\u00a0Marcelo Mayer, a player many believed wouldn\u2019t even be available when the Red Sox went on the clock.<\/p>\n
Many projected Mayer to go No. 1 overall to the Pirates. Pittsburgh instead selected catcher Henry Davis, allowing one of the most highly regarded players in the draft to fall into Boston\u2019s lap.<\/p>\n
Mayer drew comparisons to then-Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager\u00a0and\u00a0Giants’ Brandon Crawford. Almost immediately, Red Sox fans were told they were looking at their future shortstop.<\/p>\n
Mayer\u2019s climb through the organization was repeatedly interrupted by injuries. Left shoulder inflammation ended his 2023 season. A lumbar strain ended his 2024 season. His first major league season ended with surgery on his right wrist after he had been recalled when Alex Bregman landed on the injured list.<\/p>\n
This year brought another setback when Mayer landed on the injured list with a bone stress reaction in his left ulna\/forearm. His time with the organization came to a screeching halt when Boston traded Mayer to the Giants at the deadline for left-handed reliever Erik Miller. It closed the book on a five-year relationship that never came close to fulfilling the expectations attached to Mayer on draft night.<\/p>\n
Apparently, nobody was happier about it than Mayer\u2019s father, Enrique.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I found out, I jumped 30 feet in the air,\u201d Enrique Mayer said to the San Francisco Chronicle. \u201cI can\u2019t explain how happy we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayer struggled badly early this season, batting .173 through his first 18 games. Red Sox fans took notice and criticized the young shortstop after years of being told he was the answer at shortstop following the departure of Xander Bogaerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Boston, if you\u2019re going well, you\u2019re a god, and if you\u2019re struggling, they\u2019re going to tear you apart,\u201d Enrique said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t come out as hot this year and the fans thought he didn\u2019t care; that\u2019s the most ridiculous thing to say about a major league baseball player, people don\u2019t know the sacrifices and work it takes just to get there. But he got a bad rap, and if you get a little bit of one in Boston, it just snowballs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boston can be unforgiving for young players, especially a highly touted prospect who struggles is going to hear about it. A player who arrives with a $6.6 million signing bonus, the No. 4 overall pick attached to his name, and years of \u201cfuture franchise shortstop\u201d expectations will face even more scrutiny.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t make every criticism fair, but that\u2019s the price of entry to be an athlete in Boston.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And once your son becomes a professional baseball player, sometimes the best thing a parent can do is stop fighting his battles publicly. But Enrique did just the opposite, airing his grievances like Frank Costanza at Festivus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you set a record for signing bonus, you\u2019re going to have the spotlight on you anywhere, in Boston, multiply that by 10,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was intense. Marcelo started feeling a ridiculous amount of pressure. He\u2019d say, \u2018Dad, I\u2019m on the on-deck circle, and they\u2019re ripping me apart, yelling, \u2018Go back to Cali!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Boston Has Chewed Up Plenty of Athletes in the Past<\/p>\n
Edgar Renteria\u00a0arrived in Boston immediately after being on the wrong end of one of the most famous plays in Red Sox history. His ground ball back to Keith Foulke\u00a0recorded the final out of the 2004 World Series and ended Boston\u2019s 86-year championship drought.<\/p>\n
A few months later, he was replacing\u00a0Orlando Cabrera at shortstop. The Sox were better suited to bringing Cabrera back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Renteria struggled early, and his defensive problems quickly became a nightly storyline. The errors piled up, 30 of them by season\u2019s end, and the Fenway crowd eventually saddled him with the nickname \u201cEdgar Rent-A-Wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n
He actually finished with a respectable .276 average, eight home runs and 70 RBI in 153 games, but there was no coming back.<\/p>\n
One season and he was done; traded to Atlanta, agreeing to eat a significant portion of the money remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n
Carl Crawford\u2019s Boston experience was considerably worse. The Red Sox signed Crawford away from the Rays for seven years and $142 million, one of the biggest contracts in franchise history at the time.<\/p>\n
Crawford never appeared comfortable in Boston, but the circumstances went well beyond a player simply failing to perform. Injuries became a significant part of the story, as did questions surrounding the organization\u2019s medical operation. Meanwhile, the 2011 Red Sox became infamous for their historic September collapse, the beer-and-chicken controversy and the organizational finger-pointing that followed.<\/p>\n
By August 2012, Boston wanted out badly enough to include him in the blockbuster trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett\u00a0and\u00a0Nick Punto to the Dodgers and allowed the Red Sox to escape massive financial commitments.<\/p>\n
Eric Gagn\u00e9 arrived at the 2007 trade deadline with a 2.16 ERA and 16 saves in 17 opportunities for Texas.<\/p>\n
Once he put on a Red Sox uniform, he instantly became one of the worst trade acquisitions of Theo Epstein\u2019s tenure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gagn\u00e9 allowed 14 earned runs and nine walks in 183 2\/3 regular-season innings. He blew three saves and his struggles continued into October, including two runs allowed in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALCS against Cleveland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He got a World Series ring with Boston but his time with the Red Sox was not memorable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Fenway pressure cooker certainly isn\u2019t limited to players. Remember Grady Little? Ok, that sentence was more sarcasm than anything. Little managed the Red Sox to 95 wins in 2003, no one remembers and no one cares.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fans remember him walking toward the mound in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium and leaving a tiring\u00a0Pedro Martinez\u00a0in the game.<\/p>\n
Jorge Posada ties game 7 of the 2003 Red Sox\/Yankees ALCS called (in order) by Joe Buck, John Sterling, Jon Miller, Gary Thorne, and Joe Castiglione.<\/p>\n
Grady Little gives Pedro Martinez an inning too long and has the walk of shame with Yankee Stadium blaring fans and Led Zeppelin. pic.twitter.com\/CkAcZo9vM3<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Sep](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/aaronjudge22344-original.jpg\" "\\"Sep")
<\/p>\n