Red Sox get All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman from AL East rival Orioles
Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow went into the trade deadline wanting the front office's energy to match what the players have done on the field, turning a team headed nowhere fast into one of baseball's hottest with two months left in the regular season.
That was on display when the Red Sox made a series of moves Monday, beginning with the splash acquisition of All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles for a package that includes three of their top prospects.
“We didn't want to go through a deadline where we kind of just rearranged the chairs but didn’t actually get better and introduce the possibility of messing with the culture and the environment,” Breslow said. “We were aggressive in bringing players in and we were positioning ourselves to reach our objective, which is to try and win a World Series.”
The deal was announced about an hour before Monday's deadline. Baltimore also sent catcher Jake Rogers to the Red Sox. In return, the Orioles received minor league right-handers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, minor league outfielder Enddy Azocar, catcher Carlos Narváez and a player to be named later. Eyanson, Witherspoon and Azocar were ranked among Boston's top five prospects by MLB Pipeline, with Eyanson in the top 50 in all of baseball.
Orioles team president Mike Elias said Boston's offer made the intra-division swapping of players worthwhile.
“It wasn’t going to be any trade. It was going to have be something that we were overwhelmed by, and we were," Elias said.
In another move involving a former top 5 draft pick, Boston traded shortstop Marcelo Mayer— the fourth overall pick in 2021 — to San Francisco for left-handed reliever Erik Miller. The Red Sox also dealt right-hander Tyler Uberstine to Atlanta for outfielder Eli White.
The Rutschman piece gives the surging Red Sox, winners of 23 of their last 26, a needed offensive upgrade at catcher. Narváez and fellow Red Sox catcher Connor Wong had a combined OPS of just .615 together in Boston, with five home runs and 37 RBIs
The 28-year-old Rutschman is hitting .251 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs this season. He earned an All-Star nod for the third time but is currently on the injured list with left wrist inflammation. He’s also dealt with an ankle injury and a concussion this year.
In Mayer’s case, it ends a short and injury-plagued run in Boston that saw the 23-year-old play in only 114 games over two seasons. His trade comes while he is currently on the injured list recuperating a stress reaction in his left forearm.
Breslow acknowledged the moves were about taking advantage of the moment they're in.
“Over the last month and a half or so this team has demonstrated an incredible resilience and relentlessness and put itself kind of firmly in the playoff picture," he said. "And they deserved — and our fans deserve — our effort, and the efforts from the front office to try and find ways to make it better.”
If he can return to the field soon, Rutschman is a significant addition for a Boston team that stormed back into the postseason picture with a 15-game winning streak last month. The Red Sox needed catching help, and their offense is also dealing with injuries to Triston Casas, Trevor Story, Roman Anthony and even the recently acquired Curtis Mead.
The Orioles drafted Rutschman with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, but unlike Bobby Witt Jr., the second pick that year, he hasn't signed a long-term contract. Rutschman can become a free agent after next season.
Trading him to an AL East rival is a bitter pill for some Baltimore fans. In many ways, he represented both the success and failure of the past few years for the Orioles. He made his debut in 2022 and the team took off, finishing with a winning record that year and then storming to a 101-win campaign in 2023.
Baltimore made the playoffs in 2024, but Rutschman slumped down the stretch and was unable to rebound in 2025, when the Orioles collapsed to a last-place finish. He's been better this year but has played in only 67 games. Baltimore is 54-58 and entered Monday 2 1/2 games behind the final playoff spot in the American League.
Samuel Basallo, who has 16 homers this season, now becomes Baltimore's clear No. 1 catcher. However, the 21-year-old Basallo is currently on the injured list as well.
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