The Fenway Rundown: Sending Marcelo Mayer to AAA is ‘Dumb. D-U-M-B’
· Yahoo Sports
He’s been error-prone. His bat hasn’t shown up consistently. And with the Red Sox bleeding losses, the question is being asked louder and louder: Should Marcelo Mayer be sent back down to Triple-A Worcester?
Sean McAdam has heard the question. And he has a very clear answer.
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On the latest episode of The Fenway Rundown, MassLive’s Fenway Insider didn’t mince words when Chris Cotillo raised the topic.
Mayer made a critical error in Denver, opening the floodgates in a game the Sox needed. His offensive numbers haven’t been what the organization hoped. And with a crowded, banged-up middle infield, the idea of giving him a reset in Worcester has some surface-level appeal.
McAdam isn’t buying it for a single second.
“If they do it, it will be an incredibly stupid move. I can’t say this strongly enough,” he said on the latest episode. “It is time to find out whether Marcelo Mayer can play in the big leagues, whether he can be the player the Red Sox have trumpeted him to be all through his development and since he was the No. 4 pick overall. Sending him down would be moronic underlined three times.”
The argument McAdam makes isn’t just about Mayer — it’s about the reality of where this Red Sox season actually stands. The team is nearly 80 games in. They’re on pace for around 66 wins. The playoff race isn’t slipping away; it’s already gone. And in that context, sending a top prospect to the minors to protect a few wins — in a season where the wins don’t matter anymore — is exactly the wrong kind of thinking.
“They have nothing left to play for for three more months,” McAdam said bluntly. “You can delude yourself into thinking that they’re going to rip off 13 wins in 16 games and get back into it. That is complete folly. The season is over. And if you’re not acknowledging that, you’re not dealing with reality.”
So what should they do? Play Mayer. Every day. Learn what they have. Find out if the bat can come around against major league pitching. These are questions that only major league at-bats can answer — and every day he sits or gets shipped to Worcester is another day those answers get delayed.
“Mayer has got to play almost every day,” McAdam said. “And they’ve got to get to the end of September knowing more about what they have in him than they currently do. Sending him to Worcester does not help in that regard at all. It’s dumb. D.U.M.B.”
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