Adley Rutschman coy on Orioles extension talks, but makes one thing clear: ‘I love Baltimore’

PHILADELPHIA — Adley Rutschman knows his future is a topic of conversation, but the Orioles catcher tries his best to limit how much thought he puts into his own path.

Rutschman, whom the Orioles drafted first overall in 2019 to be a central piece of their rebuild, is under team control for one more season. He’s due to become a free agent after the 2027 season unless he reaches a new deal.

Rutschman is earning $7.25 million this year and has one more season of arbitration eligibility. Ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game — an achievement that unlocked a $50,000 bonus in Rutschman’s contract, per FanGraphs’ Roster Resource — Rutschman was coy as to whether he is open to signing an extension with Baltimore, although he praised his time with the club.

“I love the staff, I love the guys, players, the front office down to all the guys,” Rutschman said. “I’ve had a phenomenal experience so far with Baltimore. It’s been great. For me, you never know what’s going to happen, but I love Baltimore.”

The questions came a little less than a month after president of baseball operations Mike Elias said the Orioles have interest in keeping Rutschman beyond 2027.

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

Rutschman wasn’t aware Elias made that comment. That fits in with Rutschman’s general approach of focusing only on things he can control. In response to Elias’ statement, Rutschman reiterated that he has “nothing but positive things to say about playing here.”

Rutschman’s agent, Dan Vertlieb, did not respond to a request for comment.

Rutschman, who’s hitting .253 with a .763 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, said he didn’t know whether there have been discussions regarding a possible extension. He leaves the contract considerations to others.

“My job’s to play,” Rutschman said. “Like, I don’t understand all that stuff and how it works, so I trust people who are smarter than me. I go out and play.”

In the past year, under principal owner David Rubenstein, the Orioles have extended catcher Samuel Basallo and right-hander Shane Baz. In the latter press conference, Rubenstein said the Orioles are open to striking further deals with players.

“We have the resources necessary to do this with others who are interested in this,” Rubenstein said in March. “So, sure, we are open for business. But it has to make sense for the player and it has to make sense for the team, but we’re certainly all ears.”

Rutschman’s focus is on the field. He explained his reasoning for not delivering a firm answer on whether he’s open to an extension as not wanting to create a what-if situation.

“I feel like every player throws around the what-ifs, like, ‘What if this happens? What if that happens?” Rutschman said. “I try not to do that as much as possible. Because, again, it’s not controllable and you have no idea what other people are thinking or what they want. So, I don’t know. There’s, yeah, a what-if situation.”