The Boston Red Sox made a big splash on trade deadline day. They have acquired multiple-time All-Star Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles. Credit to Jared Carrabis of the Section 10 Podcast, who had the news hours before anyone else.
One of Boston’s biggest needs was at the catcher position. Carlos Narváez enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2025, but has completely lost all traction in 2026. Connor Wong has found some footing this year, but isn’t the answer.
When the trade finally became official, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe had the details. Let’s break it down and try to grade it.
Grading the Red Sox's top prospect-heavy trade package for Adley Rutschman
The Red Sox needed a catcher in the worst way — more than they need a shortstop. Teams knew they needed one, so there’s going to be a bit of a tax there. Inter-division trades are also going to be taxed heavily. However, Rutschman is also currently injured, apparently had medicals that have scared away a few teams, and has had several injury issues in the past. Maybe that could knock the price down?
Well, based on the package, it didn’t. The Red Sox sent right-handed pitcher Anthony Eyanson, right-handed pitcher Kyson Witherspoon, outfielder Enddy Azocar, catcher Carlos Narváez, and a Player to be Named Later.
That’s three prospects in the top six of the system, a major league catcher, and someone else.
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Eyanson has had a ridiculous season; he holds a sub-2.00 ERA and is closing in on Triple-A. Witherspoon was the 2025 first-round pick, but has struggled a bit. It feels like he hasn’t clicked with the pitching philosophies of the organization, but the talent is very clear when watching him on the mound.
Azocar is a 19-year-old outfielder with a great glove and terrifyingly strong offensive numbers. He was bolstered by a huge week in a little league park (Asheville) this week, but even before then, he was fantastic all year. Azocar is going to be a top-100 prospect by the end of the season.
Narváez has been seriously disappointing this season. After his breakout season in 2026, the right-handed hitter has a .187 batting average, 53 OPS+, and -0.5 WAR. Again, the Red Sox desperately needed to upgrade.
Rutschman is a major upgrade both defensively and offensively from both Wong and Narváez. He is joined by backup Jake Rogers, which makes me wonder where Wong is going.
However, Rutschman only appeared in 90 games last season (and posted a rough .220/.307/.366 slash line). He’s hit much better this season but again has only played in 67 of Baltimore’s 112 games and is currently on the IL.
There are some aggressive reactions to this trade. Sean McAdams of MassLive had one reaction from an evaluator that really stood out. But I’m not as negative on it. I feel like that's a serious case of overreacting, in fact. It was always going to be Eyanson for Rutschman — that much felt like a done deal. Throwing in Witherspoon is a bit surprising, but again I just don’t know if he meshed with the organization’s pitching philosophy. He has the talent, and this gives him a chance very early in his career to be great elsewhere.
Some people in the game are completely stunned by what the Red Sox gave up for Adley Rutschman. Said one evaluator from another org.: "I'm absolutely dumbfounded by this...This is literally one of the most ridiculous trades I've seen in 30 years."
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) August 3, 2026
The Red Sox have pitching, and Craig Breslow and company have shown they can identify pitching and help it blossom. I’m not too worried about them stocking up again in that area. It helps ease the pain a bit.
Azocar is where it falls off the rails a bit. The 19-year-old is having an eye-popping season stat-wise, and he passes all the tests. Again, the swing-and-miss is maybe the only legitimate concern at the moment, and even that isn’t something super drastic, as a 23.8% K rate really isn’t bad.
The Red Sox's trade package is made of nearly all prospects. Due to that, there will be the inevitable argument that they could turn into absolutely nothing. I agree. And you can point to a lot of trades where that is the case. You could also point to trades like the Javier Baez for Pete Crow-Armstrong trade where that was absolutely not the case. Both sides can make their point pretty easily.
So I’m not going to harp on the “what if” of what the players could become. My argument is going to be: did you really need to spend all that on Rutschman? He’s one of the elite defensive catchers and a really strong offensive catcher when healthy. He’s not healthy, though. Could they have talked Baltimore down from Azocar, maybe? And then used Azocar in another trade?
Go ahead and trade all the prospects for the right price. Rutschman is awesome, which is why I’m not too upset. The price just felt steep for someone who hasn’t played 162 over the last two seasons combined.
Still, you just got someone who, even if he’s not hitting, is impacting the game by being one of the best catchers in baseball. That makes your team that’s won 28-of-33 a lot better. They managed to keep Franklin Arias and Justin Gonzales, so it’s hard to be mad. Go keep winning.
Grade: B
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