The Boston Red Sox paid a steep price to acquire Adley Rutschman. Some would say too steep.
The Baltimore Orioles traded Rutschman to the Red Sox for catcher Carlos Narvaez and a top-end prospect haul of right-handed pitchers Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, and outfielder Enddy Azocar. The Orioles did not have a prospect ranked higher than Eyanson heading into the trade deadline.
Boston’s surge into the playoff race made the team confident enough to make an all-in move for a switch-hitting catcher with three All-Star nods under his belt. But fans could not help but notice that the Red Sox gave up more for Rutschman than the Los Angeles Dodgers did for Tarik Skubal.
Rutschmsn return being much higher than Skubal… is certainly….. something
— fan of the Yankees (@realboshek) August 3, 2026
How did the O's get more for Rutschman than the Tigers got for Skubal? https://t.co/aJiiZ63l49
— Ashley Davis (@AshleyDavis32) August 3, 2026
I was excited for the deal but how did the Red Sox give up more for Rutschman than the Dodgers did for Skubal? Giving up their 2nd, 3rd and 6th ranked prospects, plus two other players feels really steep. https://t.co/wXFfFqdu7b
— Charles McCarthy (@CharlieMac81) August 3, 2026
Skubal is coming off back-to-back Cy Young-worthy campaigns and remains one of the best pitchers in the game this season. Rutschman has been much closer to average than the franchise-altering catcher he was once touted to be. The fifth-year catcher has batted .251 with 8 home runs and 47 RBIs across 67 games for the Orioles this season.
Rutschman’s numbers, however, would still be a huge improvement over what the Red Sox have gotten from Narvaez and Connor Wong, who have combined for a league-worst 4 home runs and 28 RBIs from the catcher position. Boston also have Rutschman under team control through 2027 and look poised to negotiate an extension with the former No. 1 overall pick.
But looking at the prospect haul both the Red Sox and Dodgers surrendered in their respective deals, it’s understandable why some fans have been left baffled. Eyanson, Witherspoon, and Azocar were all top-5 prospects in Boston’s system, while outfielder Zyhir Hope was the only top-5 prospect the Dodgers gave up for Skubal.
It’s no surprise that some folks believe collusion was at play to help the Dodgers add yet another ace-level arm to their rotation.
