Red Sox

Red Sox draft Marcelo Mayer at No. 4, shortstop considered by some scouts to be draft’s top player

"I think they got a superstar."

The Red Sox drafted Eastlake High shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

July 11, 2021

The Red Sox didn’t get Jack Leiter or Henry Davis — two prospects widely projected to be available with their selection — but they did get a player considered by many scouts to be the best in the 2021 MLB Draft: Eastlake High School shortstop Marcelo Mayer.

Scouts are impressed with Mayer’s swing and his potential with average-to-above-average tools in nearly every category. Baseball America wrote that “everything seems to come easy for Mayer, who hits with a calm, fluid swing with good balance and path through the hitting zone, has the strength projection to hit for power in his prime, and plays a smooth, under control game at shortstop.”

After Mayer was selected, he could be seen crying while embracing his family.

Awesome moment.

Congrats to @Marcelo_Mayer10! pic.twitter.com/dkmLLk3bNu
— Darnay Tripp (@DarnayTripp) July 11, 2021

“Mayer is a scout’s dream,” ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel said on the ESPN broadcast. “This is exactly how you want a frame to look if you’re going to project a guy to make the leap — to be a Corey Seager, a Christian Yelich, whoever that may be. This is what these guys looked like at this stage, broadly speaking. He has all those things in place now.”

McDaniels added that the Red Sox will need to be patient.

“The only real question here — because I’m saying all these great things about ‘He sounds like guys who could be fringe Hall of Famers’ — now the tools are average to above.

“But this is what really good players look like at 18 [years old]. This has all the parameters you want to see in an All-Star.”

Broadcast anchor Karl Ravech said roughly 100 scouts showed up initially to watch Mayer, but those numbers gradually trickled away as it became clear Mayer wasn’t falling below 4-5.

Former MLB player Chris Burke noted Mayer’s comparisons to names like Adrian Gonzalez and Chipper Jones.

“I think [the Red Sox] got a superstar,” Burke said.

The Red Sox received the No. 4 pick after last year’s disastrous 24-36 season.