The Baltimore Orioles shocked the baseball world last week when they signed recent call-up Samuel Basallo to an eight-year, $67 million extension. The rookie catcher had only played in four major league games at the time, but he is expected to be a middle-of-the-order power hitter. The problem is the team already has a franchise catcher in two-time All-Star Adley Rutschman. He is arbitration-eligible next season and cannot become a free agent until 2028.
The team just put Rutschman on the injured list with an oblique injury, and he could miss the rest of the season. After three solid seasons, Rutschman was having a down year, hitting just .227 with nine home runs and 29 RBI. Rumors are now flying that the 2022 Rookie of the Year runner-up will be traded this winter. If that is indeed the ca se, here are eight potential landing spots for Rutschman.
San Francisco Giants
After Buster Posey retired, the San Francisco Giants thought that they had found their franchise catcher in Joey Bart. When he couldn’t hit consistently at the major league level, they traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now they are going through that same realization with Bart’s replacement, Patrick Bailey. Bailey is a Gold Glove winner with a rocket arm, but he has slashed just .227/.285/.332 with 17 homers in three seasons with the Giants. Rutschman, a former Silver Slugger recipient, would be a huge upgrade offensively without being too much of a drop-off defensively.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates thought they got a steal when they traded for Bart. He posted decent numbers in 2024, hitting .265 with 13 homers and 45 RBI (all career highs). Unfortunately, he reverted to the old Bart this season, hitting .245 with two home runs in 75 games. Pittsburgh’s top catching prospect, Henry Davis, has not panned out either. Davis has hit just .185 in 167 games over the past three seasons. Pittsburgh’s plethora of good, young starting pitchers at the major and minor league levels would make them an a ttractive trade partner for the pitching-starved Orioles.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies have a decision to make at the end of this season. Their star catcher, JT Realmuto, is set to become a free agent. Realmuto, 34, is still solid offensively and defensively, but he has declined slightly over the last two seasons due to injuries. If Philadelphia decides to get younger at the position, Rutschman, 27, would be a great solution. The Phillies do not have anyone in their system who looks major league-ready at the position.
Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians have not had an offensive threat at the catcher position since Roberto Perez hit 24 homers for the team in 2019. Cleveland has had Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges splitting time at the position for the past two seasons. This season, they are hitting .180 and .140, respectively. Rutschman would be a huge pick-up for a team that has not had an All-Star at the position since Victor Martinez in 2009.
Minnesota Twins
Rayn Jeffers is only under contract through the end of the season and will be in his final arbitration year in 2026 before he becomes eligible for free agency in 2027. The Minnesota Twins will either need to extend Jeffers or look for greener pastures. They have been using his primary potential replacement, Mickey Gasper, as a utility player, but the rookie has only seven hits in 32 games. Jeffers hit a career-high 21 homers in 2024, but batted only .226. This year, he is hitting .261 with nine homers and 42 RBI.
After an epic sell-off at the trade deadline, the Twins will be doing a lot of retooling. Rutschman could be a big piece of a Minnesota rebuild if the Twins could find the right trade pieces to appease Baltimore without depleting their own system any further. Jeffers should be cheap enough that they could keep him around for another year as insurance, in case Rutschman does not rebound from this season’s injury woes.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are another team starved for offense at the catcher position. Starter Danny Jansen, a career 218 hitter, was traded to Milwaukee. Nick Fortes is a career .222 hitter with only 22 homers in five major league seasons. Rookies Hunter Feduccia and Logan Driscoll are hitting .152 and .171, respectively, this season. The Rays picked up a promising young power-hitting catcher in the third round of the amateur draft in Taitn Gray. Gray, though, is only 17, and probably at least two or three years away from the majors. Rutschman would be a great pick-up to bridge that gap and mentor Gray when he arrives.
New York Mets
The New York Mets are always looking to make a splash. Adding Adley Rutschman could be the next one. Francisco Alvarez has shown that he can hit for power at the major league level, but he has not shown that he can stay healthy and field the position effectively. Alvarez led the National League in passed balls and errors in 2023 and passed balls again in 2024. The 23-year-old catcher was placed on the IL last week with a right thumb UCL sprain, w hich will need surgery at some point. Alvarez has only played in 52 games this season and only played in 100 games in 2024.
San Diego Padres
Like the Mets, the San Diego Padres are also known to make big splashy moves. Unlike the Mets, though, the Padres don’t already have someone at the major league level targeted to be their franchise catcher. 34-year-old Elias Diaz lost the starting job to deadline acquisition Freddy Fermin. Diaz is hitting .198 this season, and Fermin spent most of the last three years backing up Salvador Perez in Kansas City. Fermin is a career .268 hitter, and San Diego will give him every chance to prove he can be their man behind the plate long term.
The Padres also have 26-year-old Luis Campusano in the minors. Campusano looked to have won the job at the end of 2023, when he hit .319 with seven homers and 30 RBI in 49 games. He faltered, however, in 2024, hitting just .227 in 91 games. Campusano could still get another shot at the job. He is currently tearing up Triple-A, slashing .327/.438/.616 with 23 home runs, 80 RBI, and 60 walks. Unfortunately, the shot likely won’t come until spring training 2026 after going hitless in 21 major league at-bats this season. Campusano could end up a first baseman if he cannot improve upon his 9.9% caught-stealing rate.
End Of My Adley Rutschman Trade Destination Rant
Baltimore could keep Rutschman around and switch him or Basallo to a different position. That would, however, diminish that player’s value. A catcher who can hit at the big-league level is a hot commodity.
Finding a spot to move either of them to could be challenging as well. The one thing that the team has plenty of is talented young position players. What the team needs is starting pitching. Rutschman could surely bring that in a trade, even after an injury-plagued 2025.
The Mets, Giants, Guardians, and Twins will most likely be the teams blowing up the phones in Baltimore this winter. If Steve Cohen wants Rutschman in New York, he will probably get him.
The team that needs him the most, though, is Cleveland. The Guardians are starved for offense beyond Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan. Rutschman would be great with the Guardians’ pitching staff and could add a much-needed bat before or after Ramirez in the lineup. He could be the difference maker to push Cleveland over the hump and back into the playoffs.
