Red Sox Former No. 1 Prospect Not 'Untouchable' In Winter Trade Talks, Per Insider

At this point in the Major League Baseball offseason, anything truly is on the table.

The Boston Red Sox are the embodiment of that principle, because they know their time to strike is now. They've missed the playoffs three times in a row, and they have the young core to finally make it back--if they can add the right pieces to that core this winter.

It's this urgency that has made talk of a blockbuster trade commonplace this winter, with top-end starting pitchers like Garrett Crochet and Luis Castillo frequently listed among hypothetical Red Sox targets. But in this business, you've got to give up something good to get something good.

The Red Sox know that trading prospects has to be under consideration, even though they love a great deal of those prospects these days. If they want to trade to an ace, they'll have to surrender at least one top farmhand, and according to one insider, they may have narrowed down their choices.

Recently, Red Sox beat reporter Ian Browne of MLB.com predicted that shortstop Marcelo Mayer, the team's former number-one prospect and first-round pick in 2021, would not be "untouchable" in comparison to fellow star prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell.

"It is hard to imagine any scenario in which the Sox would trade Anthony or Campbell, both of whom have rapidly ascended through the team’s farm system," Browne said. "Mayer was once thought to be untouchable, but his propensity to get hurt down the stretch might make Boston more willing to move him."

Mayer, 21, has been excellent when he's been healthy, and he tore up Double-A pitching until August this year. But just as he was about to make his Triple-A debut, he was sidetracked by a lower back injury that wound up ending his season after only 77 games played.

Mayer is still Boston's number-two prospect, per MLB.com, and the seventh-ranked prospect in all of baseball. He's got all the potential in the world if he can stay on the field, but after back-to-back injury-shortened seasons, it's possible he would be the piece the Red Sox would take a gamble on losing.

The good news is that if Mayer leaves, the Red Sox are pretty much guaranteed to be getting an ace. But as is always the case with trading top prospects, there's a chance Boston could deeply regret letting the young star go a few years down the road.

More MLB: Red Sox Predicted To Target Former Two-Time All-Star To Replace Danny Jansen