Justin Verlander’s brother disputes chatter about Orioles dumping Adley Rutschman for Samuel Basallo

As Adley Rutschman continues to struggle, the Baltimore Orioles have secured the services of young catcher Samuel Basallo, signing the 21-year-old to an eight-year, $67 million extension last week.

With Basallo being regarded as one of the brightest prospects in MLB right now, and Adley Rutschman seemingly trending the wrong way, fans and experts are worried about Rutschman's time at Camden Yards.

According to insider Ben Verlander, brother of Justin Verlander, things may not necessarily turn out that way. On his YouTube channel on Monday, Verlander claimed Rutschman is a player that the O's might see as a "franchise cornerstone."

"We finally got an Orioles extension," Verlander said (14:41). "Who was it? It was not the name you think. Samuel Basallo, their young stud catcher, extended eight years, $67 million. He's a catcher, so naturally this leads to the thought, is Adley Rutschman getting traded? Here's my thoughts, make no mistake about it, the Orioles extending Samuel Basallo because it was a team-friendly, low risk, high upside deal, does not mean that Rutschman is gone and out the door.

"These two things are not correlated. Rutschman is a stud. This is an extension because you had the ability to extend the number 8 prospect in the game of baseball. Surely you hope he continues to develop behind the plate. But, we are talking about Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo being in two different stratospheres when it comes to being a defensive catcher behind the plate. I think Rutschman is a franchise cornerstone, and I think the Orioles think that about him."

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Adley Rutschman's frustration continues as oblique injury sends him back to the IL

Hitting .227 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs, Adley Rutschman's stats this season do not make for pleasant viewing when compared to recent seasons such as 2023 and 2024, where he finished with 20 and 19 homers respectively. The catcher also earned All-Star selections for both seasons.

Toronto Blue Jays v Baltimore Orioles - Source: Getty

The 27-year-old has endured some horrible luck with injuries this year. Having missed more than a month of action earlier this season with a left oblique strain, it is now the right oblique that has caused trouble, sending him back onto the IL. No concrete return date has yet been finalized.