The Boston Red Sox made one of the biggest splashes of the MLB trade deadline, acquiring three-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a massive prospect haul, including the top two pitching prospects in the Red Sox organization, Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon. 

While the trade for Rutschman is a massive win-now move for a team that has more than earned it over the last month of incredible play, it does come with a massive amount of risk on Breslow’s part. 

The 28-year-old catcher has hit a rough patch in his now five-year major league career as injuries have limited him to just 157 games over the last two seasons. 

In 2025, Rutschman missed the final 63 games of the season with an oblique strain. In 2026, he’s landed on the IL three separate times, missing time due to an ankle injury, a concussion, and left wrist inflammation, the latter of which has kept him on the injured list since July 20. 

After giving up a massive haul of prospects, Rutschman needs to post, and in order to do that, he’ll need to stay healthy, which he’s struggled to do lately.

As a result of the injuries, Rutschman has seen a sizable dip in production, hitting .234/.317/.395/.713, with an OPS+ of 101, only one percent better than a league-average hitter. 

However, prior to the 2025 season, Rutschman was among the best offensive catchers in baseball. From 2022-2024, he ranked top-five among all catchers in batting average (.261, 5th), on-base percentage (.351, 3rd), and weighted runs created plus (120, 3rd). 

In giving up a massive prospect haul featuring two top 100 arms (Eyanson, No. 34 and Witherspoon, No. 98 per Baseball America), Breslow is banking on Rutschman not only staying healthy, but also returning to his offensive form of years past, providing a major boost to the Boston lineup for 2026 and beyond. 

Perhaps the riskiest part of the deal to acquire Rutschman is the fact that he has only one year of team control remaining after 2026. 

There is so much uncertainty surrounding the 2027 season with the impending lockout, leading many to hypothesize that players who are free agents after the 2027 season would not be in as high demand come the deadline. 

Clearly, Breslow meant what he said when he told WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, "The way we're approaching 2026 is more driven by the talent that we think we have on the team, the step forward we made last year making it to the postseason, and the organization's stated intentions of building upon that, more so than what might happen in 2027... We've got a great opportunity ahead of us in 26, and that's what we're focused on."

Still, though, there is a real risk that games are missed in 2027 as neither the owners nor the MLBPA appears willing to give in on the desire, or in the players’ case, lack thereof, for a salary cap. 

If there are games missed in 2027, the Red Sox will have staked an awful lot of their prospect capital on Rutschman being the missing piece to the 2026 team that will push them over the top and they have to assume he's at least open to discussing an extension to keep him in Boston beyond whatever the ‘27 season looks like. 

While the deal to acquire the switch-hitting catcher is a massive gamble from Breslow, it’s one that Red Sox fans have been clamoring for him to make for years at the trade deadline, and one that could pay massive dividends as Boston looks to end their longest World Series drought in the last 20 years. The Red Sox last won the World Series in 2018.

The Red Sox are off on Monday’s trade deadline day after sweeping the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ll welcome the AL Central-leading Chicago White Sox to Fenway Park for a three-game set that gets underway on Tuesday night. Davis Martin (9-5, 3.62 ERA) will get the start for Chicago, while the Red Sox have not yet named a starter. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. on Tuesday night.