O's clubhouse reacts to shocking Rutschman trade: 'Definitely some sadness'

BALTIMORE -- There’s plenty Gunnar Henderson could say about Adley Rutschman. The two were taken as part of the same Orioles Draft class -- Rutschman the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, Henderson selected in the second round. They came up through the Minor Leagues together. They spent the ‘20 season at the alternate training site together. They both debuted in ‘22.

But on Tuesday afternoon following batting practice -- roughly 26 hours after the news broke that Rutschman was being traded from Baltimore to Boston -- Henderson couldn’t fully verbalize how much his good friend means to him, still processing the turn of events during a difficult, emotional period.

“Not easy for me,” Henderson said. “Somebody who’s been with me for seven years. ... I’m not going to be able to talk about it today. Sorry, guys.”

That says it all about how much Rutschman meant to the O’s organization and how challenging it was to see him shipped to the Red Sox in exchange for a hefty package of prospects ahead of the Trade Deadline. It was a move that president of baseball operations Mike Elias thought made sense for the long-term future of the franchise, but it wasn’t easy for players to handle.

Henderson was on his way to a movie theater to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on Monday afternoon, set to meet up with teammates Rutschman, Colton Cowser and Ryan Mountcastle.

They never saw the film. Cowser and Rutschman were already there when Rutschman got the call he had been traded.

“There was some shock there. You could kind of see it on his face that something might have been brewing,” Cowser said. “Just from a human side of it, obviously, it was tough. I was pretty emotional yesterday. I think that the initial shock of it was something that was tough to see. Definitely some sadness there, and all I could do was give him a hug and tell him I’m here for him and I love him.”

The Orioles were 54-58 entering Tuesday’s series opener vs. the Angels at Camden Yards. Despite being only 2 1/2 games back of the third American League Wild Card spot, the team didn’t do quite enough for the front office to go all in as buyers. In fact, the Deadline brought solely moves in the opposite direction.

Right-handers Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells were dealt to the Twins and Rays, respectively. Outfielder Taylor Ward was traded to the Mariners.

But the big blow came when Rutschman was sent to the AL East rival Red Sox. One of the faces of this era of Baltimore baseball -- a time that featured back-to-back postseason appearances in 2023 and ‘24, including an AL East title in the former -- is now in Boston and preparing for a new chapter of his career.

“It’s a lot of emotion,” Rutschman said Tuesday to the Boston media, including MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “Played my entire career there and been a lot of unbelievable memories, made a lot of great friends for life. It’s tough goodbyes, but we’re onto the next thing and excited to be here and playing. It’s all part of the game.”

The baseball aspect of it is one part. The human side is “the part that sucks,” Cowser said.

So many times this season, the group of Rutschman, Henderson, Cowser and Jackson Holliday -- sometimes, others as well -- would sit at the table inside the O’s clubhouse and play cards. They would do it during the afternoon, but late at night postgame as well.

This was the Orioles’ young core they were building around. This was also a group of close friends who have bonded for years.

“He’s truly going to be missed here. As a friend, he’s someone who I’ve grown really close with and is going to be in my wedding and someone who I’m going to miss dearly on a day-to-day basis,” Cowser said. “But he’s going to do great things, and I’ll always be in his corner.”

“It’s just kind of a weird dynamic,” added Holliday, a No. 1 overall Draft pick himself in 2022. “That’s the unfortunate part of baseball, and it obviously sucks to see him go. He’s going to be very missed around here.”

The baseball season doesn’t stop, and now, the O’s will move on into a post-Rutschman era. They’re still within striking distance in the postseason picture, and there remains a strong belief that the roster is talented enough to make a run, even if it lost some key pieces on Monday.

But that didn’t make the events any easier for a tight-knit group that lost a popular presence.

“It was a shock,” left-hander Trevor Rogers said. “What he meant to this organization -- he was the star of the rebuild here, and he had a lot of really good years. Just a great teammate, great person. I wish him all the best.”