Over the last two seasons, the Boston Red Sox have prioritized signing their young players to long-term contracts — officially showing growth from their mistakes with Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts. Ceddanne Rafaela, Brayan Bello, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony have all been signed to deals that buy out their arbitration years.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters he hoped to get more players signed this offseason (subscription required). With weeks until Opening Day, no additional Red Sox are locked down long-term, despite having a few candidates.
According to multiple sources, Boston hasn't approached either Connelly Early or Marcelo Mayer about a contract extension with the team. Both are promising young players, likely with long and prosperous careers ahead of them, but the Red Sox seem to be holding off on a commitment to either one.
This is particularly notable for Mayer, who spent years at the top of the Red Sox's top 30 prospect list and was a household name amog Sox fans, even before his major league debut. Boston has a few likely reasons for not wanting to lock itself into a contract with Mayer at this point.
Mayer has just 44 games of major league experience in his young career so far, and his offense hasn't wowed anyone in that time. He batted .228/.272/.402, which is part of the reason his spot on the Red Sox's 2026 Opening Day roster is in question — Alex Cora said he needs to see increased plate production from Mayer to justify placing him in his Opening Day infield.
Red Sox learned from early Kristian Campbell extension, have not pursued deal with Marcelo Mayer
Had they signed Mayer early, the Red Sox would be locked into another Campbell situation. After a stellar first week in the majors, Boston extended Campbell to an (admittedly team-friendly) eight-year, $60 million extension. But soon after he signed, Campbell's offense took a nosedive and he spent the rest of the season in Triple-A working on his swing, which never fully rebounded.
In the first year of his extension, Campbell will most likely begin the season in Worcester. His return to the big leagues is hard to predict. Breslow said he imagines Campbell more as an outfielder, but Boston has four outfielders already on its roster, two of them (Anthony and Rafaela) signed long-term.
Not only is Campbell's offense underwhelming compared to what the Red Sox expected from his meteoric rise through the minor leagues, they also have nowhere to play him in the majors. Campbell is owed $2.25 million this coming season when he could be on a rookie contract.
Mayer's offense has underwhelmed so far and he's been injury-prone in the minor leagues. He hasn't proven that he can stay healthy and produce offensively for an entire season, and the Red Sox don't want to box themselves in to another Campbell situation.
Both Mayer and Campbell have plenty of time to prove themselves, and in Campbell's case, to make his extension worth it for Boston. But he also showed Breslow and the rest of the Red Sox front office how an early contract extension can come back to bite them, and making the same mistake with Mayer before he's proven would be unwise.