Adley Rutschman deal showcases the opposite approaches of rival AL East execs

If ever a trade encapsulated the opposite extremes of how teams operate at the deadline, it’s Adley Rutschman to the Boston Red Sox.

The Baltimore Orioles, a team that tanked to get Rutschman with the No. 1 pick in 2019 and promised “liftoff” in 2022, are back to playing for a future that might never come.

The Red Sox, who earlier this season fired their manager and were labeled “embarrassing” by their team president, are going all-in, perhaps irresponsibly.

Both teams’ heads of baseball operations already were under immense scrutiny. Both made the Rutschman deal in response to their team’s respective performances – the Red Sox’s incredible 28-5 surge, the Orioles’ two-year malaise. Both could end up looking incredibly smart or incredibly stupid.

Fans of both teams are fully entitled to bet the latter.

The Orioles traded three-time All-Star Rutschman along with catcher Jake Rogers and cash considerations for two prized pitching prospects, Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, talented 19-year outfielder Enndy Azocar, catcher Carlos Narváez and a player to be named or cash considerations.

The fact that a player of Rutschman’s cache was moved within the division was perhaps the least shocking thing about this deal.

Rutschman is the player Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias selected over Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. The player whose arrival in 2022 signaled the end of a five-year run of misery. The player Elias said he wanted in Baltimore “forever” but failed to sign to a contract extension, then traded before he could bolt as a free agent after the 2027 season.

In a vacuum, the move looks utterly brilliant. Small-market teams like the Orioles covet surplus value, the amount by which players outperform their salaries. The projected surplus value of the players the Orioles acquired far exceeds Rutschman’s projected sum over the next one-plus seasons.

“It had to be something we were overwhelmed by,” Elias said. “And we were.”

Great! Except the goal is to capture a World Series title, not the Surplus Value Sweepstakes. The Orioles failed to win a single playoff game during Rutschman’s tenure. They haven’t won one since Elias since took over in Nov. 2018. And now, to some extent, they’re starting over again.

Elias, after trading left fielder Taylor Ward and right-handed reliever Tyler Wells along with Rutschman, disputed the notion he was dismantling the team, saying, “The fact that we’re trading Adley for minor-league players is not a declaration of setting back our timeline.”

He kept left-hander Trevor Rogers, to whom he can make a qualifying offer and possibly retain next season. Two of his other starting pitchers, Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz, are signed long-term, as are catcher Samuel Basallo and first baseman Pete Alonso. The Orioles are far from the 100-loss monstrosity they were in Elias’ first two full seasons. They’re also far from liftoff, if they were ever close to begin with.

Most of the Orioles’ young players, including Rutschman, failed to fulfill their promise. The current team, though only 2 1/2 games back in the wild-card race, is painful to watch, a fundamental mess. Elias was correct to assess this group objectively, then assemble as much future value as possible. But he was incorrect Monday night to call the Orioles a “very strong, healthy baseball organization” when they’re actually just another mediocre AL club.

To many fans, the trade of a homegrown favorite was a classic example of cold-hearted baseball calculation. When it comes to Elias, they can be forgiven for asking, “How many chances is this guy going to get?”

Six weeks ago, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was in a far more perilous position than Elias, seemingly destined to be the next Boston executive to depart Fenway Park in shame. It still could happen if this trade backfires and the season ends in disappointment. Breslow, emboldened by his replacement of manager Alex Cora with Chad Tracy and his team’s six-week run of brilliance, swung about as hard as an executive can.

Give Breslow this much: He avoided the prospect hugging that pervades the industry, trading three of the Red Sox’s best. Fans who gush over the next big thing too often forget that many young hotshots turn out to be something less. The Red Sox have experienced one flameout after another in recent years, from Brayan Bello to Tristan Casas, Kristian Campbell to Marcelo Mayer. On Monday, they sent Mayer to the San Francisco Giants for reliever Erik Miller.

Too often, executives are afraid to lose a trade. Breslow overcame that fear for the best of reasons. In a down year for the American League, he’s trying to win.

“At this time of year when you are trying to improve your team, there are not deals that are comfortable, you don’t draw a line and say, this is this is as far as we’ll go,” Breslow said. “And, there’s a bit of, like, a moving target. You try to remain as disciplined as you can, but I think you have to constantly zoom out to remind yourself that, like, what you’re trying to do is improve your major-league team in this season.”

Bravo! Pitching prospects, in particular, are fragile. Breslow not only included two in the Rutschman trade, but also sent another, left-hander Connelly Early, to the Washington Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead. A former pitcher, he is well aware of the axiom that you can never have enough pitching. But evidently, Breslow believes his front office can find even more.

That’s risk assessment, standard operating procedure for a lead executive. But the risk of acquiring Rutschman, an injured player with an inconsistent track record, was almost mind-boggling.

The Red Sox could have taken a safer route, offering a similar package for a healthy shortstop under greater club control. Washington’s CJ Abrams, Miami’s Otto Lopez and the Los Angeles Angels’ Zach Neto all were available. The prices evidently were exorbitant. None moved.

Rutschman, 28, is on the IL for the third time this season and fifth time in the past two years. His latest ailment, left wrist inflammation, can create lingering problems for a hitter. And when he returns, he will need to learn an entirely new pitching staff.

A cerebral type, Rutschman shouldn’t have a problem. But for a staff that currently is humming along with the third-best ERA in the majors, there is danger in disruption.

And wait, there’s more.

Next season, Rutschman’s final year under club control, might be shortened or canceled by a lockout. So between his dicey health and the sport’s toxic labor environment, the number of games he actually will play for the Red Sox is in question.

A long-term extension for Rutschman would help solve that problem. But an extension for a player who keeps getting hurt and had a .673 OPS last season before rebounding to .764 this year might not be such a great idea.

Few deadlines offer trades this fascinating, this debatable, this multilayered. Elias abandoned today to play for tomorrow. Breslow abandoned tomorrow to play for today.