Could Red Sox Trade $140M Veteran To NL Central, Clear Path For Marcelo Mayer?

Marcelo Mayer takes a swing during a Red Sox Spring Training game on March 11, 2025, at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. WooSox Photo/Ashley Green / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have a top-10 prospect in all of baseball racking up RBI as their Triple-A shortstop, while their big-league shortstop is stinking up the joint.

Apologies for the blunt remark, but Trevor Story truly has been a disaster in the month of May. He's got a .159 batting average this month, and he's hitting .115 with a .332 OPS in his last 78 at-bats dating back to Apr. 22.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Marcelo Mayer is excelling for the Worcester Red Sox. He's slashing .271/.341/.486 with 39 RBI in 37 games. The 2021 first-round pick is currently MLB Pipeline's number-eight prospect in all of baseball.

Because the Red Sox invested $140 million in Story three years ago, and because he's one of the team's clubhouse leaders, it's not a simple ask of the front office to cut bait with him. But it would be made easier if there was a team out there who had any interest in acquiring him via trade.

On Thursday, SB Nation's Paul Dietrich speculated that if the Red Sox swallowed most of the remaining money left on Story's contract, the Milwaukee Brewers might be that team.

"If this were to happen, Milwaukee would need Boston to eat a LOT of money, easily half of the remaining $70 million or so," Dietrich wrote.

"Boston not only has Kristian Campbell in the majors already, but they’ve also got Marcelo Mayer — the current No. 8 prospect on MLB.com— waiting at Triple-A. They don’t really need Story, and if they view him as a sunk cost, you might as well try to convince them to lower that cost a bit."

Why might Milwaukee consider going for Story? Well, their starting shortstop, Joey Ortiz, is hitting .179 with a .462 OPS+ on the season. It's possible they'd be willing to take a flier on a former two-time All-Star if the cost was minimal.

Sooner or later, Mayer has earned his shot at the majors. And the Red Sox could use a spark, so swapping him out for Story could have a multiplier effect. But that dead money is a lot to digest.