Was Adley Rutschman Worth the Enormous Cost Red Sox Paid At Trade Deadline?

Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox made a huge splash at the trade deadline as they acquired Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles and vastly improved their roster. The addition wasn’t without some loss, however, as the price to pay was stark and one that the Red Sox had been rebuilding their farm system for.

To recap: The Red Sox acquired Rutschman along with fellow catcher Jake Rogers and cash considerations from the Baltimore Orioles for a package of three top prospects, Carlos Narváez and a player to be named later. For the sake of the article, we’re only going to break down the three prospects that the Red Sox gave up in order to secure one of the best catchers in major league baseball, but it's shouldn't be lost on people just how good of a defender Narváez is, even if he would have been totally superfluous with Rutschman in tow.

The thought of trading for Rutschman came with the knowledge of giving up a lot. However, many fans were not expecting just how big of return the Red Sox relinquished would be. Among the three prospects, the Red Sox sent back Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon and Enddy Azocar. At the time of the trade, the three prospects were Talk Sox’s 2nd, 3rd and 6th ranked prospects, respectively.

Eyanson, who was the Red Sox's top pitching prospect, was dominating at Double-A and was coming off of a career high 10 strikeout start on Friday. The right-hander is unique, as he didn’t throw as hard as most Breslow pitchers tend to do (his fastball in his final start with Portland was sitting around 93 to 94 mph). It was his curveball, slider and splitter that are really worth fawning over. For Baltimore, they might be getting a pitcher who could eventually develop three above-average offerings.

However, a lot of his success comes from his release height and release angle. Prior to his promotion to Portland, Eyanson was releasing the ball at a height that was higher than 94% of minor-league pitchers, creating a unique angle and eye line for opposing batters to deal with. Due to that, his pitches all appeared at a steeper-than-average angle, making it tough for batters to square up. His fastball also relies heavily on its vertical break due to a lack of spin, The same is true with his slider, which doesn't have the characteristics of a modern sweeper. Eyanson’s potential will be tied to how well he can use his pitches and release height to keep batters off-balance.

No matter what you think of his future potential, the Orioles managed to get one of the fastest rising pitching prospects in the game, as it took Eyanson less than a year since being drafted to dominate Double-A. He'll be in Baltimore in short order.

In Witherspoon, the Orioles acquired a second highly talented arm, but one that may not have been able to reach his true potential with the Red Sox. Witherspoon struggled in his time with Boston, allowing 40 earned runs and 34 walks in 75 1/3 innings. He got off to a rough start with Boston as he allowed 14 earned runs in his first 17 2/3 innings. However, in June, he looked like he was back on the right path and had a 3.38 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, July was a step backwards, as prior to the trade he had allowed 10 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings, good for a 4.91 ERA.

Witherspoon's arsenal is made up of a fastball, cutter, slider, curveball and changeup, though he was known for tinkering with his pitch grips and shapes on his own prior to joining the organization. A pitcher who had the talent to join the likes of Payton Tolle and Connelly Early as success stories of pitching development instead struggled to adapt to what the Red Sox wanted from a pitching infrastructure point of view.

Now with Baltimore, the Orioles will have a chance to tinker with Witherspoon and hopefully get him back to the pitcher he was in college. Much like Eyanson, the Orioles got an exciting young pitcher that should help their rotation within a couple years.

While those two players are quite talented, the final prospect may have been the biggest one the Orioles received. Azocar broke onto the scene this season after putting together a rather pedestrian finish at Low-A Salem in 2025. In 71 games he slashed .202/.273/.314, so it would be easy to assume he wasn’t going to be a big prospect. But at the time, he was one of the youngest players in the entire league, and he had some exciting underlying numbers in his back pocket.

Azocar hits the baseball with emphasis, having some of the best exit velocities in the minors. Because of that, when added with his new approach in 2026 to lift the ball more, Azocar had a breakout in the power department and had 18 home runs between Salem and Greenville prior to the trade. He does have a fair share of swing and miss in his game (95 strikeouts in 85 games in 2026), but the power makes up for it as he had 27 doubles, six triples, 18 home runs, and 63 RBIs.

Azocar isn’t just an offensive weapon but also an athletic defensive outfielder that should be able to stick in center field. He’s been viewed as being able to play all three outfield spots at an above-average level, so even if the Orioles want to move him to one of the corner spots, there won’t be a drop-off in his defensive prowess. He also has an above-average arm, allowing him to make plays from the outfield against runners looking to take an extra base.

With a combination of offensive and defensive skills, the Orioles very likely acquired a future star in the making for their outfield. Of course, this is dependent on how his hit tool develops against tougher competition when he eventually gets to Double-A and Triple-A.

Overall, the Orioles managed to take three of the Red Sox's youngest, most exciting players. The losses of Eyanson, Witherspoon and Azocar will lead to the farm system taking a big hit.

But this trade feels very much like it will be a win-win for both sides. Rutschman is a star in his prime, and he should immediately become one of the faces of this era of Red Sox baseball.