Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles bats against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 06, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
MLB Rumors: Orioles GM issues a giant nothing statement on Adley Rutschman extension
Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias is arguably the best front office executive in baseball at saying something and nothing at the same time.
A nothing sandwich, as I like to refer it, is a statement by any front office executive — usually one in a smaller market — on spending money when they have very little of it available.
I earnestly believe the Orioles want to extend Adley Rutschman. They would be dumb not to, as he’s already one of the best catchers in the American League at 25 years old. Rutschman is slashing .273/.399/.424 on the early season, and when All-Star voting does open, he’ll be among the favorites to start at his position. He’s still in his pre-arbitration years, so the O’s aren’t under much stress to re-sign him just yet. It’s not like he’ll be a free agent next offseason.
However, the longer Baltimore waits, the more unlikely it is that he’ll be signed to a long-term contract. Adley is a generational talent, and was the No. 1 overall pick for a reason. It’d be wise to open negotiations now and potentially sign him to a large figure, but not an overwhelming one for a mid-market team that likes to save money long-term. Elias, though, didn’t suggest anything was close. In fact, he didn’t suggest much at all in his recent statement on the subject:
“I would just say that we’ve got a lot of people in our front office with a lot of business experience, experience with major league contracts, economics, and they’re all working on ways to keep our organization healthy all the time,” Elias said, per the Baltimore Banner. “And that absolutely includes looking at augmenting the contracts of young players that we have, but in terms of, like, what’s happening right now, I’m just not gonna get into it.”
I’m not sure what that means. You’re not sure what that means. It’s nothing, and that’s all the more frustrating for Orioles fans.