Could the Baltimore Orioles trade Adley Rutschman this offseason? One writer thinks there is little chance of that happening, but he admits it's not zero.
The Orioles' No. 1 overall draft pick in 2019, Rutschman made his MLB debut in 2022 and quickly established himself as Baltimore's everyday catcher. And while he was a back-to-back All-Star the next two seasons, Rutschman was limited to 90 games in 2025, and he set career lows in nearly every statistical category during a season in which he had splits of .220 AVG / .307 OBP / .366 SLG.
For that reason, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com believes there is a shot Rutschman is dealt this winter.
“Rob, I think the odds that the Orioles trade catcher Adley Rutschman are pretty low,” Dubroff wrote in response to a fan's mailbag question. “Had he not been subpar offensively for the last 1 ½ seasons, I’d say there was no chance he’d be moved.
“If they traded him, the Orioles would have to be convinced Samuel Basallo could handle catching perhaps 120 games in 2026, and that’s a tall order for a 21-year-old with 31 games of big league experience.
I think the Orioles would want a top-tier starter who was at least two seasons away from free agency, and I think the price for that would be very high.”
Through his first three seasons in MLB, Rutschman earned 13.1 bWAR and tallied 52 home runs, 201 RBI, 215 walks, and 222 runs while boasting splits of .261 AVG / .351 OBP / .421 SLG / .772 OPS. During his fourth season, he suffered from a pair of oblique strains over the summer.
With or without Rutschman, the Orioles struggled; after back-to-back 90-plus-win seasons and playoff berths, Baltimore managed to win just 75 games and were eliminated from postseason contention in mid-September in 2025. The Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde, who had been with the team since 2019, on May 17 amid a 15-28 start to the season.
Rutschman, 27, will be under team control via arbitration again this offseason. Last winter, he and the team agreed on a $5.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. He is set to become a free agent in two years.
