Red Sox Fan Favorite Wound Up in Wild Diamondbacks Trade Rumor

How does something like this happen?

May 17, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Marcelo Mayer (11) runs to the dugout after the end of the inning against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images | Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images

Apparently, Major League Baseball executives are even more effective gossip artists than the media.

Boston Red Sox infielder Marcelo Mayer has just been going about his business, trying to establish himself as a true big-league hitter after a rough first couple months of the season. On Monday, he hit his third home run of the season, but that wasn't the biggest story surrounding his day.

That's because according to a report from Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, a rumor spread like wildfire around front offices that Mayer had been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks -- though he most certainly had not.

Marcelo Mayer: Not Traded

May 29, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Marcelo Mayer (11) hits an RBI single during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow gave an incredulous response to Speier about the non-trade on Monday, as the Red Sox simultaneously fell to 10 games below .500 for the first time all season.

“I had somebody reach out to me and say, ‘Is it accurate to say you traded Marcelo [Mayer] to the Diamondbacks?’ ” Breslow told Speier. “There’s some things that you see, and you’re like, ‘OK, that is not accurate, but I at least understand where it came from.’ And then there are things that are just blatantly false and don’t deserve a ton of attention, and this falls into that category.”

For context, Mayer was known to be a target for the Diamondbacks in the offseason when the Red Sox, intent on making it back to the playoffs, were targeting Arizona's three-time All-Star second baseman, Ketel Marte.

That Mayer wasn't traded at the time wasn't surprising, though some argued at the time that it should have happened, and many more would probably argue the same now.

But as Marte rumors have begun to percolate again over the last week, it's hard to see how Mayer would headline Arizona's preferred package from any team, considering even after his home run on Monday, he sported a .592 season OPS.

The Red Sox need to see more from Mayer, but the same is true of any team that would consider him a trade chip. And as far as how that rumor spread... it just might always be a mystery.