A small portion of MLB insider Bob Nightengale’s Sunday USA Today column was like a grenade being tossed in the Orioles clubhouse and the hearts of Birdland.
According to Nightengale, “There will be no bigger position player on the trade block this winter than Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman. Rutschman became expendable once the Orioles signed 21-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo to a team-friendly eight-year, $67 million contract that won’t pay him more than $1 million annually until 2029.”
I’m not trying to steal credit for this idea, but I have privately been thinking about this for a very different reason. When Rutschman arrived in Baltimore in 2022, he was a game-changer. He solidified the catcher position for the first time since Matt Wieters left town. He was a switch-hitter who seemed to have an advanced skill set when it came to taking charge of at-bats. And he delivered, even if he was never going to be Johnny Bench or Mike Piazza at the plate.
We can argue until the cows come home that Orioles GM Mike Elias made the wrong choice in passing over Oklahoma high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. But Rutschman looked the part of a .270 or .280 hitter who would get on base 35 percent of the time, hit 20 to 25 homers and knock in 75 to 85 runs for a long while.
Then came a strange 2024 season. Rutschman hit .300/.351/.479 with 27 extra-base hits in his first 77 games of the season, covering 348 plate appearances. He then hit .189/.279/.280 with 14 extra-base hits in his last 71 games, covering 290 plate appearances.
There was talk of his right hand having been clipped by a foul tip late last June. The club never seemed the least bit concerned. Elias and then-skipper Brandon Hyde professed not a scintilla of worry.
When Rutschman hit a home run on Opening Day in Toronto back in late March, all of that seemed behind him. The 2025 season was going to be a good one for the switch-hitting catcher.
But in 85 games this year, Rutschman has hit .227/.310/.373 around a pair of oblique issues. In his last 162 games, he has hit .210/.295/.340. This comes from a player who was once touted by most MLB insiders as being worthy of a nine-figure extension.
Before the season, the Mariners extended MVP candidate and Home Run Derby-winning catcher Cal Raleigh for six years and $105 million with a $20 million vesting option in 2031. With Raleigh already setting the single-season home run record for catchers (49 and counting), it looks like he sold himself a bit short.
But this isn’t about Raleigh. It’s about what appetite you’d now have to pay Rutschman “Raleigh money.” I’d have to take a deep breath and quickly pass on that.
That leads me to believe someone — say, Buster Posey in San Francisco — could see his way to acquiring Rutschman, who has two years of club control remaining. Another team might be prepared to pay him a good bit more than what Elias and the Rubenstein ownership group will be comfortable with.
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