During a season that started with the Orioles looking set behind the plate, the picture changed fast. Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo once looked like the answer. By the end, the club was clearly in the market for another catcher.
That shift came after the Orioles slid out of contention and the possibility of extending Rutschman became impossible to ignore. They then dealt their overall No. 1 draft pick to the Boston Red Sox on August 3, with both Basallo and Rutschman on the injured list at the time. President of baseball operations Mike Elias also said he did not necessarily see Basallo, who signed an eight-year, $67 million extension less than a year earlier, as a full-time catcher.
The return included Carlos Narváez, but that move did not solve the problem. Narváez, who had finished sixth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2025, was a major letdown in Baltimore, batting .104 in 33 games.
Basallo’s season had a much different shape. He caught 62 games and was solid before the break, hitting .248 with a .772 OPS, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs.
Then the second half went sideways. A right shoulder injury in the third game after the All-Star break cost him a month, his production cratered after he returned, and a concussion ended his season a week early.
After the break, he hit just .140 with two home runs and eight RBIs.
Basallo still looks like a promising 21-year-old, but the Orioles need more certainty behind him. Here’s where the options stand.
One path is simply to run it back with Narváez. That would be a bet on a rebound, because the offensive numbers were rough: 8-for-77 with one double and no RBIs.
Still, there is a baseline to point to. In his rookie season with the Red Sox, he hit .241 with 15 home runs, 50 RBIs and a .726 OPS.
If he got back near that level in 2027, the Orioles could live with it. His defense was serviceable, too.
He ranked 22nd of 56 catchers in framing pitches, while Basallo was 52nd and Rutschman fifth. Narváez also threw out four of 18 attempted base stealers, or 22.2 percent, almost exactly the league average of 22.7.
Basallo’s caught-stealing rate was 26.1 percent.
The Orioles also have a few internal names in the mix. They released Yohel Pozo, who played sparingly over two months and hit .259 in 19 games with 27 at-bats.
He threw out three of nine runners trying to steal. At the same time, they claimed Zach Morgan off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
Morgan, a seventh-round pick in 2022, hit .248 with three home runs and 27 RBIs in 52 games between Double-A Richmond and Triple-A Sacramento in 2026. The 26-year-old caught just four of 22 runners stealing, and he has played 56 Triple-A games without reaching the majors.
A year from now, Ethan Anderson could be the one in line for the backup job. The Orioles’ second-round pick in 2022 hit .288 with a .919 OPS, 24 home runs and 55 RBIs in 93 games across High-A Frederick, Double-A Chesapeake and Triple-A Norfolk.
MLB Pipeline ranked him 16th, and he threw out 22 percent of runners attempting to steal with the Baysox. Creed Willems, the fan favorite and 28th-ranked prospect, also put together a strong year, hitting .260 with 21 home runs and 72 RBIs with a .784 OPS in 113 games for Norfolk and Frederick.
Willems was not protected before last year’s Rule 5 draft and went unselected, while Anderson does not need protection until a year from now.
The free-agent market offers a few more possibilities. MLBTradeRumors.com has three catchers in its top 50: Ryan Jeffers at ninth with a projected four-year, $75 million deal; Carson Kelly at 33rd and projected for two years, $20 million; and Tyler Stephenson at 40th and projected for two years, $15 million.
An expensive bid for Jeffers would be out of character for Elias, while Stephenson is viewed as more of an offense-first catcher. Kelly may be the cleaner fit.
There are also familiar names floating around. James McCann, Rutschman’s backup in 2023 and 2024, is a free agent again, though the Orioles have not shown interest in bringing him back over the last two years.
The 36-year-old missed about six weeks with a right quad strain with Arizona and hit .282 with seven homers and 28 RBIs in 51 games. Gary Sánchez, who appeared in just 29 games for the Orioles in 2025, backed up William Contreras with the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers.
Jake Rogers spent a weekend with the Orioles before heading to Boston with Rutschman. Neither Rogers nor Sánchez, whom the Orioles paid $8.5 million in 2025, is expected to draw interest from Baltimore.
One name who might fit manager Craig Albernaz’s eye is Austin Hedges. The longtime Cleveland backup has a reputation as a strong clubhouse presence and remains a defensive catcher. He hit .247, his best average, in 78 games for the Guardians, though he threw out only three of 45 runners attempting to steal, a 6.7 percent rate.
In Other News...
Orioles Prospects Facing A Make-Or-Break Year Just Got Clear
Baltimores farm system had a mixed but encouraging 2026, with several names taking real steps forward and others hitting bumps along the way. Pitchers Joseph Dzierwa, Caden Hunter and Boston Bateman all showed progress, while hitters Aron Estrada and Ethan Anderson added to the sense that the organization still has plenty of talent moving through the pipeline.
The next pressure point comes in 2027, when Trey Gibson, Vance Honeycutt and one other prospect move into a season that could say a lot about their long-term outlook. Gibson already has an MLB debut on the ledger and showed improvement, while Honeycutt steadied himself after early strikeout issues, but both now face the kind of year that can separate a promising prospect from a true part of the future. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Still Have One Major Roster Problem To Solve
The Orioles are heading into the offseason with a roster that figures to look noticeably different, and not just because of the usual winter churn. Free agency departures, injuries and a few organizational moves have already thinned out the pitching staff, leaving Baltimore with clear work to do as it tries to reshape both the rotation and the bullpen.
President of baseball operations Mike Elias has already said the club intends to pursue a top-of-the-rotation starter, which only underscores how much is still unsettled. Trevor Rogers, Chris Bassitt, Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin are no longer in the picture, and while several prospects and depth arms will get a chance to compete for jobs, the Orioles still have a major pitching question hanging over the roster as the offseason unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Jackson Holliday Is Back At The Center Of Orioles Trade Talk
The Orioles are again in the middle of deadline chatter, and this time Jackson Holliday has surfaced as a name other clubs are asking about. Baltimore is said to be open to listening on trade offers, but not in a mode where it is shopping core pieces such as Gunnar Henderson, which keeps the focus on how aggressive rival teams might be in trying to pry away one of the organizations most prominent young talents.
Hollidays presence in the rumor mill has naturally drawn attention because the front office has shown it will consider moving a major player if the return is compelling enough. The recent Adley Rutschman trade is the clearest reminder of that approach, and it leaves open the question of how far the Orioles would go if the right proposal comes along for Holliday before the deadline. [Read more 🡒]