MLB experts voted Red Sox's Adley Rutschman trade as most surprising by wide margin

The Boston Red Sox made a few very notable additions at the 2026 MLB trade deadline, including deals for Curtis Mead, Erik Miller, and most notably, Adley Rutschman.

Trading for Rutschman, the three-time All-Star catcher with 1.5 years of club control left on his deal, was a very bold move. But it also seemingly came out of nowhere.

Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com shared that the overwhelming majority of the votes handed out for the most surprising trade of the deadline went to the Red Sox's trade for Rutschman.

Red Sox made 'most surprising' trade of deadline in Adley Rutschman deal

"Which trade made during Deadline season surprised you the most? Top choice: Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox (18 votes)," Harrigan shared.

To put those 18 votes in comparison, the next-closest deals that received votes as the "most surprising" were the Jose Soriano, Marcelo Mayer, and Liam Hicks trades, all with two votes each.

The Rutschman to Boston trade was the most surprising of this year's deadline by a wide margin. It's an understandable reaction from these MLB experts, as this deal was a true stunner.

Rutschman was, and still is, on the injured list at the time of the trade. They also gave up Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, Enddy Azocar, and Carlos Narvaez in the trade for Rutschman. That's a massive haul.

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Both of those make this trade all the more surprising. But, simply seeing Rutschman dealt in-division from the Orioles to the Red Sox is a major surprise.

Intradivision deals like this don't get done very often, especially ones of this magnitude. But the Red Sox got their new catcher for the next year and a half, while the Orioles got a major haul to help kick-start another rebuild.

Of all the deals made by the August 3 MLB trade deadline, the Red Sox landing Rutschman from the rival Orioles was voted by MLB experts as the most surprising deal of the deadline, and the voting wasn't remotely close.

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