Red Sox
“It felt like I was throwing an intense situation in a game.”
Like many Red Sox fans, Joe Ryan was among those who were deceived by false social media posts that he had been traded to Boston prior to Thursday’s deadline.
The Twins pitcher admitted that he thought he was on the move after seeing multiple social media posts from verified outlets that said that the Red Sox acquired him in a trade.
“I obviously thought I got traded for several minutes and then it was like, ‘Is this going to happen? What’s the discount?’ That was a weird mix of emotions,” Ryan told reporters, via MLB.com’s Matthew Leach. “I was with Griffin [Jax] during that. It was just weird. Then he didn’t think he was going to get traded, and he got traded [while] I didn’t. It was weird. It was a lot. It felt like I was throwing an intense situation in a game.”
Ryan had been linked to the Red Sox for weeks prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. While it appeared unlikely that Ryan would get moved, it was reported by MLB Network’s Jon Morosi that the Red Sox were intesfying their efforts to get the Twins’ ace with less than hour before the 6 p.m. deadline.
Apparently, multiple people misread that report from Morosi. Shortly after, the MLB on FOX and Yahoo! Sports accounts on X posted that the Red Sox had acquired Ryan,
Of course, that wasn’t the case. But, Ryan was still left confused Thursday evening, especially as Minnesota traded away 10 players in the days leading up to the deadline.
“I was kind of expecting a call after everything [got] blown up and then I fake [got] traded,” Ryan said. “And then nothing. So it was like, ‘all right, that was a little weird.’”
Just how close a discount came to fruition and how serious the Red Sox’ offer was to the Twins has been debated since Thursday evening. The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal called Boston’s offer for Ryan “feeble, at best,” while Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow disagreed with that notion.
One thing that is clear, though, was the Red Sox weren’t willing to part with one of their major leaguers in the discount. Boston turned down Minnesota’s request to include either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu, The Athletic‘s Dan Hayes reported. During his post-deadline press conference on Thursday, Breslow said that players on the MLB roster were essentially off limits in trade talks.
“Over the last two to three weeks, it became clear that all 26 guys on our roster were contributing to what we were doing, and we weren’t willing to take a banger to our major league team and potentially impact the 2025 season in favor of trying to repackage or repurpose in a way that might have improved the future,” Breslow said.
Boston’s offer for Ryan largely consisted of some of its leading prospects, including Payton Tolle, Franklin Arias, and Jhostynxon Garcia, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported.
Another thing that’s clear is that Ryan is one of the game’s best pitchers, and he continued to prove that case on Friday. A day after dealing with trade uncertainty, Ryan allowed just two runs in six innings in the Twins’ 3-2 extra-innings loss to the Guardians. It marked the sixth time that he’s allowed two or fewer runs in his last seven starts as he holds a 2.83 ERA on the season.
Ryan, who has two years left a team control following the 2025 season, said he hasn’t had a conversation with the Twins about his future yet as many have speculated that the Red Sox will make an attempt to land him again this offseason.
“I think they were just respecting my space today on start day,” Ryan said following his start on Friday. “Just trying to keep it as normal as possible. I appreciate that side of it. Probably not the time to have that conversation. I’m sure they’ll find time. We’ve got two months.”
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