At least one Boston Red Sox player had to be excited about the news that Ketel Marte wouldn’t be traded on Friday.
According to a Friday tweet from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Arizona Diamondbacks informed interested teams, presumably including the Red Sox, that Marte would not be traded this winter. The three-time All-Star second baseman isn’t coming to Boston, which creates a bit more certainty for a much younger second base candidate.
Marcelo Mayer, who had a chance to win the second base job for the Red Sox last summer before hitting the injured list with a wrist injury, was reportedly someone the D-backs had their eye on. Now, he’s nearly guaranteed to remain in the organization until opening day, and he might have learned more information about his role as well.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
What Ketel Marte news means for Marcelo Mayer
As MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported on Friday, the Diamondbacks had interest in Mayer when negotiating with the Red Sox. Cotillo also spelled out how the rest of the Red Sox’s offseason pursuits would likely affect the 23-year-old former first-round pick.
“The Red Sox stayed engaged with the Diamondbacks, who reportedly had interest in young starters Payton Tolle and Connelly Early. Marcelo Mayer was another name on Arizona’s radar,” wrote Cotillo. “Ultimately, talks with all clubs seemed to sputter around New Year’s Day and Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen told MLB.com that discussions would ‘very likely’ end soon. A week later, Rosenthal’s report is an official, albeit somewhat unusual, signaling that Marte will stay put.
“Boston remains engaged in the markets for Alex Bregman (third base) and Bo Bichette (who would move to second base) and is aiming to sign one of them, with Mayer potentially playing whichever position remains open.”
Reading between the lines a bit more, the Diamondbacks’ interest in Bregman was frequently reported to be contingent on a potential Marte trade. If that’s off the table, the Red Sox’s odds of landing Bregman likely received a boost on Friday.
Bregman has seemingly been the Red Sox’s No. 1 target all along, so unless they whiff on him, it would appear that Mayer not only can prepare to play out the season as a Red Sox, but that he should pay special care to his reps at second base for the time being.
More MLB: Phillies-Bo Bichette News Comes With Loud Message For Red Sox