[illeracula]

The center point of the bill mid-season deal was Tommy Rutledge. Rutledge is 26-years old and in the middle of his 5 big-league season. Tommy was drafted in the second round of the 2013 1st year player draft, the 20th pick overall, out of high-school. At the beginning of the 2014 season he was named the 29th prospect in the DelMarVa Baseball league.

In the beginning of 2015 he was named the 9th best prospect and started his year in AA, after finishing 2014 in AA. That year in 22 starts Tommy went 15-2 2.89 to take home the AA Golden Arm award, and the Barons knew they had someone special on the way up. After splitting time in AA and AAA in 2015, he eyed a roster spot wit the Barons.

In to 2016 he was named the #12 prospect in the DBL, and was disappointed to hear that he would start the season in AAA. But his time in AAA didn't last but one start, before the Barons came calling. In 2016 his first year with the big-league club Tommy struggled, but the season was highlighted by a 1-hit shutout in August.

In 2018 with the Barons he won 20 games, in 2019 he won 15, and at the age of 26 has been named as one of the up-and-coming pitchers in the game. Alexis Shelton had this to say about Tommy during a recent scouting trip "When Rutledge throws, hitters can only pray they get the bat on the ball. His stuff is downright nasty."

The Cav's gave up a lot for him. Tommy is signed for 2 more years, and the Cav's will hope to get him resigned. Either way they are happy to have him on their team and look forward to him holding down the #3 slot in the rotation for at leas the next 2 years.