While the Major League Baseball season winds down, the National Hockey League is getting ready to drop the puck. Over at The Athletic<\/em>, which is my go-to website for hockey, they\u2019ve been previewing the upcoming season in a myriad of ways, including re-drafting several recent drafts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Interestingly, with only slight variations, the tops of the drafts have been consistent with what actually took place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n My brain connected these re-drafts with Baltimore\u2019s recent extension of their young catcher\/first baseman, Samuel Basallo. Now, Basallo wasn\u2019t drafted\u2014he was an international signing\u2014but the Orioles notably took another catcher, Adley Rutschman, with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft, one spot ahead of the Royals selecting Bobby Witt Jr.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I don\u2019t know what the plan is in Baltimore, whether Basallo is going to permanently supplant Rutschman behind the plate in 2026. Right now, Basallo\u2019s making those starts as Rutschman has been on the Injured List for over a month. With the Orioles well out of contention, there\u2019s no need to rush him back, either.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the fact that, six seasons later, there\u2019s even a question of replacing Rutschman while Witt posts yet another MVP-like season illustrates that the Orioles made the wrong pick to start the 2019 draft, much to Kansas City\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the time, selecting Rutschman over Witt wasn\u2019t in the least bit questionable. I recently found my copy of that year\u2019s draft preview from Baseball America<\/em>, and it featured Rutschman on the cover and then prominently throughout the pages. And for good reason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rutschman starred at Oregon State. During his time there, the Beavers finished third in the nation in 2017 before capturing the College World Series the following season. Over three seasons, in addition to playing stellar defense at catcher, Rutschman, a switch-hitter, slashed .352\/.473\/.559. Impressively, he walked 39 more times than he struck out. He\u2019d just turned 21 when the Orioles drafted him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For the first two-and-a-half seasons of his Baltimore tenure, Rutschman looked like the real deal. He finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 while also receiving downvotes for the MVP. He followed that up with his first All-Star appearance in 2023 as he raised his OPS three points to .809 as he finished with 20 home runs to go with 92 walks. The first half of 2024 went just as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since then, though, something\u2019s gone wrong. During the second half of last season he slashed a mere .207\/.282\/.303. Then this season, appearing in a career-low 85 games, those numbers have improved, but are still below league-average: .227\/.310\/.373. Notably, unlike Basallo, Rutschman is not signed long-term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Compare that to Bobby Witt Jr. and, well, there\u2019s no comparison, really.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After figuring it out during his rookie season, Witt\u2019s rocketed to stardom as the face of the franchise. But for Aaron Judge, Witt would\u2019ve secured his first MVP award last season as a 24-year-old. Instead, he finished second, his second top-10 finish in the MVP race. Expect a third such finish for 2025. Additionally, he\u2019s made two All-Star games and earned a Silver Slugger (as has Rutschman, I\u2019ll note) and a Gold Glove. He should add more hardware for his performance this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n