The Boston Red Sox were a wild card with the No. 4 pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom probably is happy with how everything unfolded, though, as Boston landed high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer, arguably the best position player available.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers selected Henry Davis, Jack Leiter and Jackson Jobe, respectively, allowing Mayer — whom many experts projected to go No. 1 — to fall to Boston.
Jim Bowden, a former MLB general manager, on Friday included the Red Sox among his draft “winners,” heaping major praise on Boston’s selection of Mayer in the first round.
“Celebration followed in Boston,” Bowden wrote for The Athletic. “With the fourth pick, the Red Sox arguably got the draft’s most talented player, Marcelo Mayer. He reminds me of a cross between Corey Seager and actor Adrian Grenier (who played Vincent Chase in “Entourage”). Seager because of the pure swing, power potential, and the ability to play above-average shortstop despite not having the running tool of most elite shortstops; Grenier because of the hair and eyebrows, and a bit of a similar Hollywood charisma.”
Mayer won’t help the Red Sox in their quest for a World Series title this season, as he’s just 18 and presumably a few years away from debuting with Boston. But he has a ton of upside, with some fascinating player comparisons painting the picture of a future All-Star.
Of course, it’s hard to pick “winners” and “losers” after any draft, and it’s especially difficult in baseball, where prospect development in many cases is a long-term process. Still, the Red Sox probably didn’t expect Mayer to be on the board at No. 4. Scooping him up likely was an easy decision.
It doesn’t hurt, either, that Boston also landed a high-upside outfield prospect in the second round, as well as an “underrated” slugger with light-tower power later in the draft.
