The Boston Red Sox have acquired catcher from the hours before Monday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline, the teams announced. Catcher Jake Rogers, recently acquired from the Tigers, will also be going to Boston as part of the trade. In return, the Orioles will receive a package of four players and a player to be named later. The return, headlined by right-handed pitching prospect Anthony Eyanson, also includes catcher Carlos Narváez, right-handed prospect Kyson Witherspoon and outfield prospect Enddy Azocar.
Rutschman, 28, is a former No. 1 overall draft pick out of Oregon State and a three-time All-Star. He had spent his entire professional career with the Orioles prior to this trade. This season, he’s enjoying a solid bounce-back campaign coming off an injury-compromised 2025 in which he posted the worst offensive numbers of his career. For that career, Rutschman has an OPS+ of 115 – the same as his 2026 figure – across parts of five big-league seasons. He’s averaged 20 home runs per 162 games played over that span, although his power has taken a dip in recent seasons. Rutschman is presently on the injured list with an inflamed wrist, but he could soon begin a minor-league rehab assignment.
Rutschman is owed the balance of a $7.25 million salary for this season, and he’ll again be arbitration-eligible for 2027, the final season before he’s slated for free agency.
The Orioles make the move despite being just 2 ½ games out of playoff position going into Monday’s slate of games. They do have rookie ready to take over as the team’s primary catcher moving forward. However, he’s on the IL with shoulder inflammation. In earlier deadline deals, the Orioles also traded starting pitcher to the and outfielder Taylor Ward to the Mariners.
Once healthy, the switch-hitting Rutschman is primed to fill the catcher void for the division-rival Red Sox, who have surged back into contention thanks to a franchise-record 21-4 record in July. This season, Boston catchers — mostly and Narváez — have combined for an OPS of just .615, which ranks 25th in . Rutschman, in contrast, has a .764 OPS this season and a .756 mark for his career. That additional year of control means that Orioles fans must watch Rutschman — the face of their recent deep rebuild — in a Boston uniform not only for the rest of 2026 but also the 2027 season.
On the return side for Baltimore, Witherspoon, who turns 22 on Aug. 12, is the most notable addition for the Orioles. Coming into this season, CBS Sports ranked him as . Here’s part of that write-up:
“Witherspoon has an uptempo delivery that sees him pitch off a high front side and really hinge on his back leg before he looses the ball from a high-three-quarters slot. Despite the frantic aesthetics, he was able to rein in his control at Oklahoma, with his strikeout-minus-walk percentage improving from 13.4% to 25.9% year to year. Witherspoon certainly has the stuff to start at the big-league level — his arsenal includes a heater that sits in the mid-to-upper 90s, a cutter, and two breaking balls — so his future will hinge on his ability to maintain those control gains as a professional.”
This season, Witherspoon, the No. 15 overall draft pick in 2025 out of the University of Oklahoma, has a 4.78 ERA in 17 starts at the High-A level. Eyanson, age 21 and a former third-rounder out of LSU, is in his first professional season. In 68 ⅓ combined innings at the High-A and Double-A levels, Eyanson has a 1.32 ERA with 94 strikeouts and 26 walks. Azocar, 19, is enjoying what may shape up to be a breakout season in 2026. Across 85 games at the Single-A and High-A levels, he’s slugging .540 with 18 homers, 27 doubles, six triples, and 11 stolen bases while spending most of his time in center field.
Now for some grades.
The addition of Rutschman doesn’t fill all the Sox’s deadline needs, but it does address a leading weakness in the lineup and make that lineup deeper. Not only does Rustchman upgrade the catcher position in the here and now, but the remaining full year of team control gives Boston certainty at the position through next year. That’s also plenty of runway to work out an extension before Rutschman reaches free agency, should both sides have any interest. There’s an added bonus here, as the Red Sox will now keep Rutschman out of the Yankees’ hands. The Yankees need a catcher perhaps worse than Boston did, and they had reported interest in Rutschman.
The return on Rutschman is quite respectable – strong even. The Orioles also have Basallo ready to assume the position full-time once healthy. The problem with all of it is that Baltimore is now undertaking what’s a deep sell despite being very close to playoff position in the AL. That’s weak behavior for a team that should be angling for contention. The O’s are at grave risk of seeing the recent rebuild bear no fruit whatsoever, and Mike Elias’ job should be in danger at this point. The return gets an A. The philosophical framework of the trade gets an F.
