Baltimore Orioles Star Catcher Projected to Sign Six-Year, $105.5 Million Extension

The Baltimore Orioles could give their star catcher a deserved extension soon.

Oct 2, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) hits a single against the Kansas City Royals in the fourth inning in game two of the Wild Card round for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Orioles have a stellar young core, but the time for them to start paying them is coming soon.

CBS Sports' Mike Axisa recently put together a list of the top extension candidates for the remainder of the offseason and Spring Training. Orioles star catcher Adley Rutschman was one of the players mentioned.

Along with predicting that Rutschman would sign a deal in the coming weeks, Axisa also projected a price tag of six years, $105.5 million. That would be an easy decision for Baltimore at that price and contract length, a great deal for the team that would put him among the highest-paid at his position.

To find this price range, the starting point for Axisa was Sean Murphy's extension that he signed with the Atlanta Braves. Rutschman is younger than Murphy was when he signed that deal, but it would put them at the same MLB service time.

Murphy signed a six-year, $73 million extension ahead of the 2023 campaign after being acquired via trade. He had yet to make an All-Star team by the time he received the contract, but was coming off of a stellar campaign and had a Gold Glove to his name.

He had accrued 10.5 WAR over those first few seasons with the Athletics. While his bat has had it's ups and downs, he has remained one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

This projected deal for Rutschman would dwarf that contract, though, and for good reason. Even coming off of a career-worst campaign, he is still among the best players at his position and has plenty of room to grow on top of that.

The 27-year-old already has more WAR than Murphy did at this point, with 13.2 to his name.

Last season did bring some unfortunate slumps for Rutschman, as he will hope that they are behind him. In the second half alone, he posted a .207/.282/.303 slash line with just three home runs.

While that is unacceptable production, he has been good enough in previous years that it shouldn't be the source of much worry yet. If anything, it could be the perfect time to secure a long term deal with him.

Axisa did bring up a good point that Rutschman will likely want a longer deal than six years, but that just doesn't really happen for many catchers. Will Smith and Keibert Ruiz are the only two players at the position with contracts longer than that right now. The $105.5 million projection would be much higher than both of those deals on a per year basis, though.