The Orioles are sending catcher Adley Rutschman to their division rivals in Boston, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Red Sox also receive catcher Jake Rogers and cash, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. The Orioles will receive prospect Anthony Eyanson in return, reports Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Catcher Carlos Narváez is also in the deal, per Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic. The O’s are also getting Enddy Azocar, and Kyson Witherspoon, per Kostka. There’s also a player to be named later, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.
Once upon a time, the idea of a Rutschman trade would have been hard to fathom. The O’s took him first overall in 2019, giving him a signing bonus of $8.1MM. The Orioles were deep in a rebuild at that time, losing at least 108 games in each full season from 2018 to 2021. Fans naturally pinned their hopes on the future as the club stockpiled prospects like Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, and many more.
Rutschman came up in 2022 and his first two years delivered on the hype. By the end of the 2023 season, he had appeared in 267 games with excellent defense, 33 home runs, a .268/.369/.439 batting line and 129 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 11.1 wins above replacement in that two-year span. The O’s posted a winning record in 2022 and then won 101 games the year after. Though the Rangers swept them out of the 2023 ALCS, it seemed a glorious new era was beginning in Baltimore with Rutschman at the center of it.
But much has changed since then. For one thing, extension talks between the O’s and Rutschman never seemed to gain traction. He is slated for free agency after the 2027 season, just over a year away. Conversely, the O’s did manage to sign another young catcher to an extension. In August of last year, Samuel Basallo and the O’s inked an eight-year deal with a $67MM guarantee.
Rutschman’s performance has also dipped a bit, perhaps due to some injuries. In 2024, he got into 148 games but a hand injury midway through the campaign seemed to seriously hamper him. He had a .275/.339/.441 line in the first half but a .207/.282/.303 line in the second. Last year, separate strains of his left and right obliques limited him to 90 games with a subpar batting line. This year, left ankle inflammation, a concussion and left wrist inflammation have sent him on the IL. In fact, he’s on the IL right now due to that wrist issue. Dating back to June 27 of 2024, when Rutschman’s hand was struck by a foul ball, he has a .221/.306/.364 line and 94 wRC+ in 944 plate appearances.
On top of all that, the team has disappointed this year. They are currently 54-58. That’s only 2.5 games out of a playoff spot in the weak American League field but they would have to leapfrog a number of teams to get back into postseason position. President of baseball operations Mike Elias said recently that the club would probably walk a buy/sell tightrope at the deadline but their moves so far have leaned to the sell side. They traded Dean Kremer to the Twins and Taylor Ward to the Mariners.
Factoring in Rutschman’s narrowing window of control and recent struggles, the Basallo extension and the club’s disappointing season, a Rutschman trade became far more fathomable as time went on. Elias said this week that he would have to be open-minded about offers and it seems the Red Sox walked into that opening and put down an offer he couldn’t refuse.
For the Red Sox, they presumably feel Rutschman is capable of getting back to his old self with some better health going forward. It won’t be hard for Rutschman to provide the Sox with an upgrade on the production they have received from the position this year. Their backstops have a collective .219/.305/.310 line on the season, with most of that coming from Narváez and Connor Wong. Perhaps they are right about Rutschman but they are giving up quite a notable package of young talent to find out.
Eyanson, 21, is the clear headliner here. A third-round pick in last year’s draft, he is having an excellent debut season as a professional. He has a 1.32 earned run average in 68 1/3 innings split between High-A and Double-A. His 10.1% walk rate is a tad high but he has struck out 36.6% of batters faced while inducing grounders on 53.7% of balls in play. Baseball America now lists him as the #33 prospect in the league. MLB Pipeline has him at #49. FanGraphs has him at #27. All signs point to him having the potential to be a front-end big league starter in the near future.
Witherspoon, 21, is also a very notable prospect. Boston’s first-round pick just last year, his first professional season is a bit more muted than Eyanson’s. Witherspoon has a 4.78 ERA in 17 High-A starts this year. Still, BA lists him as the #97 prospect in the majors. Other outlets aren’t nearly as high but BA feels he is a work in progress with a big ceiling.
FanGraphs only lists Witherspoon at #14 in the Boston system but they are far higher on Azocar. An international signing out of Venezuela, he is further off, as he is only 19 years old and hasn’t yet reached the Double-A level. But FanGraphs currently lists him as the #82 prospect in the league. An outfielder who is currently playing all three slots, he could stick in center but may end up in a corner. FanGraphs feels he could be an everyday guy either way due to his above-average hit and power tools. He has 18 home runs this year split between Single-A and High-A with a .286/.341/.540 line.
The two clubs are also swapping non-Rutschman catchers here, with Rogers and Narváez getting flipped. Rogers was just acquired a few days ago after being designated for assignment by the Tigers. He has big power and hit 21 home runs back in 2023 but otherwise is a subpar hitter. He is a good defender though, so perhaps the Sox will keep him around. For now, he joins Wong while Rutschman is on the IL. When Rutschman returns, Rogers could be designated for assignment but Wong is also optionable.
Narváez is solid with the pads on and produced a solid season at the plate last year, slashing .241/.306/.419. However, he is down to a dismal .187/.260/.275 performance this year, which perhaps played a role in the Sox aggressively seeking out catching help. He and Yohel Pozo can share the catching duties for now while Basallo is on the IL. Once Basallo returns, both Narváez and Pozo have options, so one can be sent to Triple-A.
It is likely a bittersweet day in the Baltimore front office. Rutschman has been a face-of-the-franchise player for many years now and the club surely didn’t want the season to go this way. But after some struggles, they have explored the sell-side of the market. Prospects are never a sure thing but the initial industry consensus is that the O’s have done very well to get three really strong prospects, particularly Eyanson, and a player to be named later for an oft-injured catcher whose stock is down.
For the Sox, it’s a big bet, not the only one they have made this week. The club looked like sellers not so long ago but have been the hottest team in baseball for weeks now. They are within five games of the division-leading Rays and comfortably in Wild Card position. It seems they want to make bold moves to take advantage of the spot they’re in. They already sent out Connelly Early to the Nationals in order to get Curtis Mead. That move quickly backfired when Mead broke his wrist in his first game with the Sox but the club is still putting chips on the table.
The two clubs each might have more moves to come. Since the O’s appear to be selling, then flipping Trevor Rogers would be a logical next step. For the Sox, Mead’s injury means they could still use some infield help. They have been connected to big names like Zach Neto and Elly De La Cruz. Those guys would be hard to pry loose but the Sox seem to have almost anything on the table this year.
More to come.
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