MLB Insider Floats A Shohei Ohtani-Marcelo Mayer Trade Deadline Swap For Red Sox, Angels

The Boston Red Sox are in a precarious position with the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline approaching, as they sit three games back in the American League Wild Card race. 

They haven't shown enough for Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom to truly go for it at the deadline and are positioned to do so next season. However, if Boston is able to become instant postseason contenders with one transaction, that of course would be enticing. 

One proposal would send the organization's top prospect -- shortstop Marcelo Mayer -- in exchange for the best player in the world. 

"They now have five prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, including Mayer, Ceddanne Rafaela (No. 81), Nick Yorke (No. 84), Miguel Bleis (No. 85) and Roman Anthony (No. 97)," MLB.com's Molly Burkhardt wrote. 

"If Boston wants to hold the line on Mayer, it’ll have to dip deeply into that newly improved system, something the Red Sox are likely to be unwilling to do for only a few months of Ohtani. The alternative, however, might be even harder to swallow -- giving up high performers at the MLB level."

Burkhardt makes some great points about trading one high-end prospect over totally decimating the farm system.

"So, would Boston instead throw out an aggressive one-for-one deal for Ohtani? If they dangled Mayer, would that be enough to entice the Angels? It might be their best option to avoid raiding the Major League team or crushing their farm system," Burkhardt concluded.

If the Red Sox were to trade for Ohtani, this might be the best course of action. However, Boston is not going to be involved in the Ohtani trade sweepstakes this summer. 

This team is going to look to make minor acquisitions -- likely a back-end starter or two and a reliever. They'll also likely trade rentals such as Adam Duvall, Kiké Hernández, and possibly James Paxton. They reportedly could even consider moving Nick Pivetta (under team control through 2024).

It will be a whirlwind of a Red Sox trade deadline but Ohtani will not be in the mix. He could, however, be a serious option this winter.