The Red Sox had a stunning 2026 trade deadline — and team brass is shutting down any noise surrounding one of their more surprising moves.
There was the blockbuster trade for former Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, and then the Red Sox dealt former top prospect Marcelo Mayer to the Giants in the trade for reliever Erik Miller.
On Thursday, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow appeared on WEEI and discussed what went into the decision to part ways with the 23-year-old Mayer.
“There is this nonsense that appears on the social medias. Were there off-the-field issues with Marcelo? With Roman Anthony?” host Greg Hill asked Breslow.
“There are no issues with Marcelo and Roman off the field,” Breslow confirmed.
Breslow’s insistence comes after rumors that part of the reason the Red Sox traded away Mayer was because of his and Anthony’s off-the-field antics, and that the team felt the only solution was to separate the two friends.
A post on Reddit theorizing about a fight between the two that led to Anthony’s finger injury, which he’s now recovering from in Florida, only exacerbated rumors in the past couple of days.
“I’m not sure that something has to go wrong in order for that to be the outcome,” Breslow continued. “[Mayer is] still very young. I still expect him to have a very good Major League career.
“I think a lot of the perception that followed him was completely unfounded and completely untrue, but this was a baseball trade and it was an opportunity for us to strengthen a bullpen that I think is a core part of our team.”
Breslow called both players “great guys.”
Mayer and Anthony, alongside Kristian Campbell, were once considered the “Big 3” of elite Boston prospects.
As it stands now, Anthony hasn’t played since May 4 with a finger injury, Mayer is on the opposite coast in San Francisco and Campbell is back in Triple-A Worcester after seeing some time in the big leagues in 2025.
