Kyle Goon: Orioles GM Mike Elias wants to hold on to Adley Rutschman. He’s actually right.

Of all the qualities you’d want in a general manager, “unsentimental” is high up on the list.

Most of the time, you would have a hard time detecting the human being who is Mike Elias behind the wall of cliches the Orioles president of baseball operations uses to talk about his club. That’s why what Elias had to say Saturday about Adley Rutschman felt so remarkable.

When asked if he would consider trading the 28-year-old catcher who was, at one point, the face of this club’s rebirth, Elias did something dangerous that he rarely does: He talked about his feelings.

“He’s been the cornerstone, basically, since I’ve been here, so he’s an enormous part of it,” he said. “I wish our commitment was greater than it is. We want him here forever.”

It is impossible for me to fully understand what is going on in Elias’ head, with his club barely keeping its head above water at a thoroughly unimpressive 39-46 yet still in the thick of the wild card race.

You can deduce that the relationship Elias has formed with Rutschman over the last seven years plays a role in the former’s affection, as does the fact that Rutschman was Elias’ first draft pick with the Orioles — which, by most measures, was a great success. Though the volume is relatively low for Rutschman trade rumors, baseball insiders provide just enough kernels to suggest it could be on the table.

But while Elias may talk about Rutschman in terms of sentimentality, there is a very tangible reason Elias — who is blessed with two great talents at catcher (getting-better-by-the-day Samuel Basallo being the other) and needs, at some point, to diffuse that talent to other positions — should be loath to put Rutschman on the trade block.

With Rutschman, it’s possible still for the Orioles to compete for a playoff spot this year. Without him, it’s hard to see that happening.

There are so many times I see things entirely differently than this Orioles front office, so it might seem odd to find alignment just as all the slack is going out of Elias’ leash. If this season manages to trend downward the way the last one did, there’s no guarantee Elias will be back in 2027.

But I also deeply believe that the Orioles should be in the business of keeping good players. And it’s hard to overstate just how important Rutschman has been (when healthy) to the Orioles this year.

He’s pulled out of his year-and-a-half slump at the plate. His Baseball Savant page is not quite as impressive as it was for his All-Star campaign in 2023, but he’s in the 80th percentile or higher for key hitting metrics, thanks in large part to improved swing decisions and his ability to get on base (back to a respectable .332).

He’s hitting balls hard more often than ever (43.7%). He’s striking out less often than ever (14.2%). He’s not back to his peak offensively, but this level is still really, really good.

What he’s done defensively, however, is probably more impressive because of his growth. With a technique change in how Rutschman throws from behind the plate, he’s become one of the best in the majors at gunning down runners. If you want to give the Orioles’ starting rotation credit for stabilizing in the last month or so, Rutschman (who also happens to be one of the game’s best pitch framers) deserves some credit there, too.

By WAR (wins above replacement), Rutschman is the Orioles’ third-best position player, and defensively, it’s hard to name a catcher doing the job better. Forget trading him — when Elias says he wants to keep Rutschman “forever,” you could talk yourself into a great case for an extension to take him beyond team control, which ends after 2027.

Of course, a Rutschman extension cannot take place in a vacuum. There’s a 6-foot-4 power-hitting elephant in the room.

When the Orioles signed Basallo to an extension last summer, it was easy to see that deal as a sign that Rutschman’s days in Baltimore were numbered. He was struggling after crashing into the big leagues as an immediate impact bat, and his arm wasn’t striking fear into baserunners (24% caught stealing, which has improved to 35% this season).

Someday, the Orioles will have to choose which catcher to keep — and so many factors favor Basallo. Most important is probably Basallo’s age. At 21, he seems to be only scratching the surface of what he can do.

But can Basallo be everything to the Orioles in the second half of 2026 that Rutschman is right now? No. He can’t.

He had a strong defensive road trip while Rutschman was out with a concussion, but he still shows so many signs of youthful impetuousness. Just look at the pile of firewood he’s created lately by snapping his bats in half over his knee as his OPS careened from .974 in May to .572 in June.

His defensive metrics show room for improvement, particularly in pitch framing (18th percentile, according to Baseball Savant). His gaffe allowing a throw to get past him for a walk-off run against the Dodgers shows how much Basallo is still learning finer points of the position.

I’m not sure it’s wise to trust Basallo to be The Guy behind home plate every day yet, and he has plenty of years to grow into the role — as well as his massive body — and become the player the Orioles believe he can be.

But in the meantime, Baltimore needs as many winning ballplayers as it can put in the lineup. In that sense, Rutschman is a no-brainer to bat every day he’s willing and able. As currently constructed, the Orioles have a better chance of winning on any given day with both Rutschman and Basallo rather than having to choose one or the other.

If the Orioles are looking to trade Rutschman at the deadline, something has gone utterly and horribly wrong. It may not even be Elias who would be confronted with that choice if things go that far south by the end of July.

There is a “sell high” argument to get the most value from Rutschman’s return to form, but it’s hard to see the compensation being more than prospects. Trading Rutschman probably marks the start of a new rebuild, albeit a softer one than Elias started in 2019.

Even though the Orioles haven’t been dominant for any lengthy stretch this season and are definitely flawed, I have a hard time swallowing the idea of launching a reset without a player as good as Rutschman.

That is where my own feelings cut into the discussion: Almost every good Orioles memory from the last five years has Rutschman somewhere in the scene. I’m not sure I’m ready to turn the page quite yet.

Maybe it is impossible to be totally bloodless when weighing the future of a player who has brought about as many good things for the Orioles as Rutschman has. He has struggled, yes, and it’s no coincidence that his slumps have coincided with downturns for the entire Orioles offense. With his plate approach much closer to his All-Star seasons this year, he helps give the whole engine a bit of extra kick.

In this specific instance, the sentiment and the data can help make the same case: As long as the Orioles have a ray of hope that they can compete in 2026, Rutschman has to be one of the key players keeping that hope alive.