Trade rumors are bound to be wild, but sometimes they even leave stakeholders wondering about their legitimacy. Something similar happened around Marcelo Mayer, who is trying to rebound after a rough first two months of the season. On Monday, Mayer even scored his third homer of the season, but that was not the biggest story around him. The Boston Red Sox were rumored to have traded Mayer to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Boston rocked, and the Red Sox CBO, Craig Breslow, was reached out to.

His response straightaway discredited the rumblings.

“There are some things that you see, and you’re like, ‘OK, that is not accurate, but I at least understand where it came from.’ And then some things are just blatantly false and don’t deserve a ton of attention, and this falls into that category,” Breslow gets quoted by the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and shared by The Pesky Report’s Matthew Crory.

Well, this is not the first time that Mayer has been rumored to be with the D-Backs. In late 2025, Boston wanted Arizona’s three-time All-Star second baseman, Ketel Marte. But just as the Diamondbacks asked for Marcelo Mayer as a primary co-headliner in the package, the Red Sox were reluctant to trade him and ultimately refused to include Mayer in those winter negotiations.

It was hence very much believable this time that Mayer gets traded to the D-Backs. The difference being this time, according to Crory, “Officials with both the Red Sox and Diamondbacks were baffled.” Even the man himself wondered. “I’m here to play baseball, not to read Twitter,” Mayer said.

Since his MLB debut last year, Mayer has yet to be at his best. He finished 2025 with a .228 average, and this year, it’s around .222. But still, the Red Sox view the 23-year-old infielder as a long-term foundational tenant of the roster. The reason could be his higher ceiling. Mayer is coming off a career .273 average in the minors, and he finished 2024 with a .307 average.

Moreover, he is playing under a pre-arbitration contract, making a base salary of $783,500, and he won’t even hit free agency until 2032. For a team focusing on payroll sustainability and building a consistent championship contender, keeping an elite young player with years of team control is a high priority. But that doesn’t mean the Red Sox are not manifesting Ketel Marte.

“Ketel Marte continues to frustrate segments of the Diamondbacks organization by opting to take days off,” Underdog MLB quoted Bob Nightengale. And if the D-Backs are open to trading Marte, there’s no reason for the Red Sox not to get interested in him. Marte is hitting .246 with 11 HRs, and Boston, which came down below .500 for the first time this season, needs the same dose of offense to survive. Time will answer if they eventually give up on Mayer for Marte, but an immediate offensive punch is all the Red Sox need now.

The Red Sox’s offense is gasping for help

The Red Sox are currently ranked last in the AL East with a 27-37 record. As per Masslive’s Sean McAdam, “Red Sox’ primary issue remains the same — not nearly enough offense.” This month, Boston played 6 games and scored two runs or fewer in four of them. As per Gabrielle Starr, they couldn’t even make more than 7 hits in their last 4 games.

So, the Red Sox undoubtedly require new names at the plate to lead the charge.

While Marte is on the list, the Tigers’ Gleyber Torres is also rumored. The Tigers signed a qualifying deal with Torres, and if they make him available, the Red Sox should be the ones leading the race. Although Torres missed a significant time due to injury, he is slashing .270/.386/.365 with a .751 OPS since his return. He also walked 26 times and struck out 29 times, which should attract the Red Sox.

The Red Sox already had a low-key offseason, and that is costing their season. Breslow could still set the record straight by going all out by the deadline. However, let’s see what they need to give up in doing so.