The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are putting the finishing touches on a deal that will see 3x All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman head to Fenway as part of a multiplayer deal.
The full deal will see Boston acquire Rutschman, catcher Jake Rogers, and cash. Heading back the other way will be catcher Carlos Narváez, outfield prospect Enddy Azocar, RHP Kyson Witherspoon, and RHP Anthony Eyanson.
The former 1st overall pick from the 2019 draft has one more year of arbitration eligibility before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2028, meaning he’ll be more than just a rental player for the Red Sox. After a slow start, Rutschman has regained his form at the plate hitting .251 with 8 home runs, 47 RBIs, and 30 runs scored across 247 at bats. He also provides elite level defence behind the plate and is viewed as leader of the pitching groups he’s worked with over the years in Baltimore.
Despite his resurgence this summer, Rustchman became expendable for two reasons: 1) At 54-58, Baltimore had to make a decision as to whether they’d push for a wildcard spot, or load up for a renewed effort in 2027. Evidently the team has chosen the latter of those two options based on their activity on Monday. And 2) The team inked 21 year old Samuel Basallo to an 8 year deal with a $67M guarantee in August.
While the team initially believed that Basallo could occupy the DH spot or potentially shift over to 1st base, clearly the opportunity to restock their prospect pool by moving Basallo back to catcher was one that made sense to the O’s front office.
A deal was reportedly agreed upon in principle early in the day between the two sides, but Boston was believed to be spending extra time reviewing Rutschman’s medical records. The 28 year old has been on the injured list 3 separate times this season due to an ankle injury, wrist inflammation, and a concussion. When dealing away the number of pieces Boston was willing to part with, Craig Breslow and company wanted to be extra certain that Rutschman would be able to contribute to the team in a meaningful way down the stretch.
Eyanson is a 21 year old RHP currently at AA who figures to compete for a spot in Baltimore’s rotation in spring training. He’s ranked as the Red Sox 2nd best prospect and 49th overall across all teams. Witherspoon is the club’s 4th ranked prospect, while Azocar is the club’s 5th ranked player, meaning Boston gave up 3 of their top 5 prospects in order to bring Rutschman over from their AL East rival.
Both Azocar and Witherspoon are both in High-A level ball and figure to need additional seasoning in the minors before being ready to contribute at the Major League level. Boston did manage to hang on to their blue chip shortstop in Franklin Arias who is ranked 7th across all minor league farm systems, so they should have at least one player graduating to their MLB roster in 2027 if nothing else changes.
The Red Sox are currently riding a 5 game win streak and occupy the 2nd wildcard spot in the American League. They’re 2.5 games back of the Yankees, and 5 games back of the division leading Rays in what should make for an intriguing sprint to the finish line in the AL East.
Photo: Jeffrey Hayes. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.