Red Sox reportedly acquire C Adley Rutschman from the Orioles

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly acquiring catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles in a rare intradivisional trade, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Rutschman was part of Baltimore’s youth movement two years ago, but has come back down to Earth after a hot start to his career. With the Orioles looking to be deadline sellers, his name consistently was brought up since Baltimore had a surplus at catcher between Rutschman and Samuel Basallo.

Baltimore drafted Rutschman with the first overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. He made his debut in the majors in 2022. That year, he played in 113 games and hit .254 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI.

The catcher’s best season so far was in 2023. He was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger Award that year after slashing .277/.374/.435 with 20 home runs, 80 RBI and a 4.3 WAR.

Rustchman has played in 67 games this year for the Orioles. His numbers across the board are down, with just eight home runs and 47 RBI so far.

He heads to Boston slashing .251/.331/.433, and it will be interesting to see how the Red Sox utilize the switch-hitting catcher.

Rutschman has one more year of arbitration left before he is due to hit free agency in 2028 when he is 30 years old.

Boston has been alternating Connor Wong and Carlos Narvaez behind the plate. Rutschman was in a platoon in Baltimore with Basallo, so that role won’t be new to him. He may just bat against right-handed pitchers since Wong and Narvaez are both right-handed hitters.