What Could the Boston Red Sox Offer for Joe Ryan?

[Matthew Lenz]

With the World Series nearing its end, teams will soon be allowed to complete trades. With that, you can expect to hear rumors surrounding the Minnesota Twins, who could look to shed more salary by dealing one or both of their top starting pitchers.

Jen McCaffrey, who covers the Boston Red Sox for The Athletic, is already stoking the stove in a recent mailbag article. The team that made a late push at the deadline to acquire the 29-year-old Ryan is expected to add to their starting rotation this offseason and will likely be calling the Twins again.

While they may pursue more elite options, such as Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, they could also opt for more of a number two type like Ryan. At the deadline, Dan Hayes suggested the Twins would be looking for two top-50 prospects in return - "one with a mid-ceiling and one more of a lottery ticket." McCaffrey goes on to speculate that a package including one of shortstop Franklin Arias or outfielder Jhostynxon "The Password" Garcia, plus 2025 first-rounder right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, would be a good "start" to a potential deal.

Arias, the Red Sox's top prospect and 24th in all of baseball (per MLB Pipeline), started the 2025 season in Single-A Salem before being promoted to High-A Greenville Drive and eventually Double-A Winchester. He posted a .278 AVG with eight home runs, 66 RBI, and 12 stolen bases over 479 at-bats in the minors.

Garcia split his 2025 season between the minor and major leagues for the Red Sox organization. In the minors, he hit 21 home runs and drove in 75 RBI. He appeared in 5 games for the Red Sox, recording one hit (a double) over seven at-bats with two walks. He ranks as the 85th best prospect in baseball and third in the organization.

Witherspoon, who didn't appear in a game for the Red Sox organization, finished his NCAA season with a 2.65 ERA and 124 strikeouts across 95.0 innings for the Oklahoma Sooners. He was named a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist and a Consensus First Team All-American. He is currently the 89th prospect in baseball and 4th fourth-best prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline.

Who do you think the Twins should look to land if they tango with the Red Sox? Let us know in the comments!

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[Rigby]

Would definitely like to see Witherspoon included in any package.

[LambchoP]

What we need is a first baseman, catcher or maybe an outfielder. Of course pitching is always needed too ...

[jorgenswest]

How often are teams trading top players with 2 full years of service time? Why are we so anxious to trade Ryan? Do the Brewers and Guardians trade their top pitchers this early?

Ryan’s surplus value is more than 2 times greater than it will be a year from now but they will not get offered that value. Let’s be patient.
 

[tony&rodney]

Feels like this has been hammered to death, but it also seems inevitable.

The Red Sox have players, prospects, and money. They are a potentially reasonable team to deal with if they make the best offer. 

When does the lottery for the draft take place? If the Twins pick #1 or #2, maybe that makes Arias superfluous in the Twins system. There will be very highly rated shortstops in the draft. Still Arias is not a bad start. Garcia, not so much due to less speed, lack of defense, and bad BB/K ratio. I could see Boston offering Jarren Duran.

The draft is in early December. Perhaps the Twins need to act before then.

The Twins need to talk with many teams. I don't believe the Tigers will trade Skubal and may/should be very interested in Ryan. West Sacramento is another team to call. Maybe St. Louis too. The Twins need to take the conversations to the teams and find the best offer.

It should be interesting.

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 hour ago, LambchoP said:

What we need is a first baseman, catcher or maybe an outfielder. Of course pitching is always needed too ...

The Twins have liked Tristan Casas for some time. Add him to Arias and Witherspoon and you have the makings of a deal

[old nurse]

The reports at the trade deadline was the Twins wanted one of their mlb outfielders as well as 2 prospects. Boston’s counteroffer was players the Twins did not know.  Well, I believe the part about what the Twins wanted. I don’t believe the later statement.  Twins wanted too much, Sox counter with a lowball offer. Twins say there is not enough time to research to save face for Boston and keep the door open. Falvey has to win a trade. Boston can’t make another trade mistake. I doubt a deal gets done 

[palmspringstwinsfan]

To the Cubs for 1B Long and catcher Amaya or Ballesteros. Accept nothing less 

[RJA]

The complication in all of this is the very real possibility of a strike, one which has the potential to cause the cancellation of the 27 season if the owners really do push for a salary cap.  So, if the Twins keep Ryan next year with the hopes of a deadline deal, they may in effect only have one remaining year of Ryan.  Yes, they could trade at the deadline next year, but I suspect returns will be more limited as well since teams may just look for players in the last year of their contracts and not overpay for an extra year that may not happen.  I am not advocating for a trade as this train wreck of a sports franchise will mess it up whatever they do.  Frankly, I am so frustrated with the Twins ownership and front office, I am not sure I care anymore.  Has anyone noticed that Minnesota sports franchises like the Twins, Vikings and Wild have similar problems--they can't seem to draft and develop players worth a hoot.

[Otaknam]

My two cents. Any Ryan trade should include a top pitching prospect who can make the big league team in 2026. Maybe Red Six power lefty Tolle and righty Witherspoon, a first round college pick in 25, and a lower level lottery prospect would get the job done. Tolle has overpowering stuff and made a handful of starts for Boston in 2025. Witherspoon is highly regarded college prospect but didn’t pitch in the minors after being drafted. The Twins don’t need another outfielder in the mix unless they move on from Larnach, and move Wallner to first. 

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, palmspringstwinsfan said:

To the Cubs for 1B Long and catcher Amaya or Ballesteros. Accept nothing less 

All three really slow unathletic players.  Ballesteros is a poor defender so not a guy I want headlining a deal for our best trade asset.  Cason Kelly is a free agent so trading Amaya for Ryan probably does not make the Cubs a better team.  It looks to me like a deal with the Cubs would be either Wiggins or Rojas along with Long.  Even Wiggins and Rojas does not seem like a great return but maybe my expectations are too high.

[palmspringstwinsfan]

Kelly is not a free agent. He signed a 2 year deal last year. Ballesteros is weak defensively but the Cubs are very excited about his bat-much like they were for Schwarber when he came up. Amaya is a good all around catcher but hasn’t stayed healthy. He might in a platoon with Jeffers 

[Historyking88]

You don’t trade Ryan without getting Tolle or Early at minimum 

 

[Senior Softball Guy]

22 hours ago, palmspringstwinsfan said:

To the Cubs for 1B Long and catcher Amaya or Ballesteros. Accept nothing less 

....or Michael Bush straight up.

[Doc Munson]

Close to the only thing I would trade Ryan for is to Texas for Sebastian Walcott.  DO that straight up and you got a deal

[tony&rodney]

11 hours ago, Doc Munson said:

Close to the only thing I would trade Ryan for is to Texas for Sebastian Walcott.  DO that straight up and you got a deal

We were able to see Walcott a number of times this past summer when Wichita played Frisco. He is a big time prospect. The defense is still shaky and he was ok hitting but didn't stand out. Remember though that he is only 19. 

Texas has pitching but really needs bats so it is unlikely they would trade a bat for a pitcher. 

There are other top ten prospects that could possibly be had in a trade but it would be a little unusual and difficult to pull off.

Edit to add: Walcott is very unlikely to play infield. He profiles as a rightfielder. I don't know how many times you have seen him play, but I would not trade Ryan for Walcott although I do believe the young slugger could have a fine MLB career. The Twins have Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins more or less ready now. Either way, the Rangers do not need pitching.

[Chembry]

On 11/1/2025 at 7:55 AM, palmspringstwinsfan said:

To the Cubs for 1B Long and catcher Amaya or Ballesteros. Accept nothing less 

 

On 11/1/2025 at 9:17 AM, Major League Ready said:

All three really slow unathletic players.  Ballesteros is a poor defender so not a guy I want headlining a deal for our best trade asset.  Cason Kelly is a free agent so trading Amaya for Ryan probably does not make the Cubs a better team.  It looks to me like a deal with the Cubs would be either Wiggins or Rojas along with Long.  Even Wiggins and Rojas does not seem like a great return but maybe my expectations are too high.

Kelly is a free agent after the 2026 season. Cubs have 4 catchers on their roster, but McGuire may be DFAd and I don't know if the Cubs trust Ballestereos behind the plate.  I think odds are low the Cubs trade Amaya. 

I travel quite a bit for work and try to catch baseball games when I can.  I have seen both Ballesteros and Long play a fair amount.   Personally, I think Long is underrated as a prospect.  His bat to ball skills are quite impressive, he has a low K rate, and a high walk rate.  at AAA, he consistently hits the ball hard (90.9 mph avg exit velocity), a 47.1% hard hit rate, and a 10.1% barrel rate.  Obviously, it remains to be seen whether that can translate to MLB, but definitely worth a look.  He does seem to struggle with high velocity up in the zone, that is one area of improvement he could make.  Baseball America has stated in their scouting report that Long has the power and and plate skills to profile long term at 1B.  I wouldn't call him unathletic, but he is definitely on the slow side.

If the Twins were to trade with the Cubs, I wouldn't be upset if Long was included in the deal.  I could also see Matt Shaw being available, especially if the Cubs sign Bregman which has been reported that they are interested. I think any one (if MLB talent like Amaya or Shaw is included) or multiple of Ballesteros, Wiggins, Rojas, or Long could be part of a deal.  I don't think they will part with Cassie given both Happ and Suzuki are UFA after 2026.  I don't think we want Alcantra.  His stock has declined significantly.  

Back to the topic with the Red Sox.  There are so many possibilities/variables with each team, it's so hard to predict.  For example, could we get Marcelo Mayer?  This has been floated around be several sources into October.  There is no way that would happen if the Red Sox can't bring back Bregman, so they probably won't even discuss Mayer until they know about Bregman.  Do we even want Mayer with his injury history? Would the Twins take a flier on Kristian Campbell and his contract?  How about Ceddanne Rafaela, who is under contract through 2031, with a club option for 2032?  Could he become available with plethora of OF the Red Sox have? I think Ryan would have to agree to an extension for Rafaela to become available.  The Twins have been interested in Casas in the past.  Would they want him as part of a deal?

What do the Twins think of Arias, Tolle, Witherspoon, Clarke, Garcia, Early, etc...?  Personally, I like Tolle as part of the return.  Garcia has the tools, but Ks at a really high rate, even in AAA (29%) and his batted ball data is significantly worse than Long's at the same level.    

It's fun to speculate, but nobody knows for sure.  

[MGX]

No thanks on the trade offer in the article. In fact the Red Sox don't even look like a good fit. Why focus on the same teams when they can't offer what we need. A good trade partner for Joe Ryan is the A's, they have a lot of young talented, MLB ready position players & are or 1 or 2 pitchers away from being a contender for the playoffs. 

Hopefully, the FO looks for trade partners that can offer what we need.

[SteveLV]

Why do the A's want Ryan?  Does he fit there perceived window?

[tony&rodney]

8 hours ago, MGX said:

No thanks on the trade offer in the article. In fact the Red Sox don't even look like a good fit. Why focus on the same teams when they can't offer what we need. A good trade partner for Joe Ryan is the A's, they have a lot of young talented, MLB ready position & are or 1 or 2 pitchers away from being a contender for the playoffs. 

Hopefully, the FO looks for trade partners that can offer what we need.

No way to know without asking. Get in touch with every team. I think the A's are a possibility. My target would be Tyler Soderstrom, sending Ryan and Alan Roden to Sacramento.

 

54 minutes ago, SteveLV said:

Why do the A's want Ryan?  Does he fit there perceived window?

The A's need a really good starting pitcher to front their talented but inexperienced starting pitching staff. Their window is open. They have a very solid offense, decent defense, can run, and have collected a pile of good arms in the bullpen. Nobody should be surprised if the A's win 85-88 games next season. 

We can't know right now but Joe Ryan might enjoy being back close to home. Would Sacramento take the leap? Hard to know.

[MGX]

10 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

No way to know without asking. Get in touch with every team. I think the A's are a possibility. My target would be Tyler Soderstrom, sending Ryan and Alan Roden to Sacramento.

 

The A's need a really good starting pitcher to front their talented but inexperienced starting pitching staff. Their window is open. They have a very solid offense, decent defense, can run, and have collected a pile of good arms in the bullpen. Nobody should be surprised if the A's win 85-88 games next season. 

We can't know right now but Joe Ryan might enjoy being back close to home. Would Sacramento take the leap? Hard to know.

I like Soderstrom, he provides an impact bat for our lineup. He could play 1B though the A's moved him to LF so Kurtz could play 1B & he played well defensively in LF (a GG finalist in LF) so he also provides flexibility. I think it's possible we could get more than than him for Ryan, but I like the idea. 

[tony&rodney]

14 hours ago, MGX said:

I think it's possible we could get more than than him for Ryan, but I like the idea. 

The more I look around Soderstrom appears like the best choice to target. An added bonus is that Soderstrom can play 1B or left field and can also be used as an emergency catcher which was his position coming up with the A's.

Is he available? I would offer Ryan and Alan Roden, maybe try to push by adding a minor league R/A/A+ pitcher or even Charlee Soto. I'm doubtful that the Athletics would listen but prying and offering a large price may be tempting for them. Soderstrom has good bat speed, had 60 XBH last year, and is coming into his own after a couple of years. Again, unlikely to be available even with a push but the Twins need to find an angle to acquire someone like Soderstrom. 

[Riverbrian]

9 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The more I look around Soderstrom appears like the best choice to target. An added bonus is that Soderstrom can play 1B or left field and can also be used as an emergency catcher which was his position coming up with the A's.

Is he available? I would offer Ryan and Alan Roden, maybe try to push by adding a minor league R/A/A+ pitcher or even Charlee Soto. I'm doubtful that the Athletics would listen but prying and offering a large price may be tempting for them. Soderstrom has good bat speed, had 60 XBH last year, and is coming into his own after a couple of years. Again, unlikely to be available even with a push but the Twins need to find an angle to acquire someone like Soderstrom. 

If the Twins could get Soderstrom.

Sign me up.

He would be perfect. 

BBTV says Ryan and Rodon for Soderstrom and Gage Jump is a fair deal. 

I'd consider it for Soderstrom alone. He could be our primary 1B for the Twins. 

Just don't know if the A's would consider parting with Soderstrom. The club is on the upcycle and Soderstrom would have to be a big part of that future.  

[Doctor Wu]

Not sure about the Red Sox, but seems like the Padres could come calling now that Darvish is out for next season,. 

[tony&rodney]

6 minutes ago, Doctor Wu said:

Not sure about the Red Sox, but seems like the Padres could come calling now that Darvish is out for next season,. 

Yes, but what can the Padres offer? They really don't have any prospects close to MLB caliber except one relief pitcher. The young catcher, Salas, can't hit in A ball. So I'm at a loss with the Padres.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I don't have a lot of confidence in the Twins' front office to identify the right prospects in a trade for Joe Ryan or Pablo Lopez. 

[Chembry]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Yes, but what can the Padres offer? They really don't have any prospects close to MLB caliber except one relief pitcher. The young catcher, Salas, can't hit in A ball. So I'm at a loss with the Padres.

You beat me to it.  The Padres don't have a very good farm system and traded away what they had to the A's for Mason Miller. 

[TopGunn#22]

The idea of Soderstrom from the A's is certainly worth having a conversation.  I do think there are a LOT of teams that would have interest in Ryan and I think the slower pace of the off season as opposed to the chaos of the deadline works to the Twins benefit.  

I still think the Red Sox are a good candidate with a number of players that would work for the Twins.  However, I think the conversation with the Red Sox Sox need to start with a Major League player, probably one of their FOUR outfielders.  According to BBTV Anthony and Jarren Duran are the highest values.  Duran is valued quite a bit higher than Ryan.  Wilyer Abreu and Ceddane Rafael are each valued significantly below Ryan.  But each of them won a Gold Glove last season.  Abreu won his 2nd consecutive as a RF and Rafaela won his as a CF but he's also a pretty darn good SS.

Which of those OF would the Red Sox be willing to part with?  First off, Anthony is of the table, so the list shrinks to Duran, Abreu and Rafaela.  Duran would be a great fit for the Twins because he'd be a defensive upgrade at either corner spot and a reliable backup option in CF for Buxton.  He's also be a great top of the order catalyst with Luke Keaschall.

But the Twins need more than one player and with Duran valued higher than Ryan would it need to be one-for-one?  As good as Duran is, one-for one doesn't work for the Twins, they have more holes to fill.  I'm not sure how the Red Sox value their own players, especially those OF.  But a trade of Ryan 47 and Wallner 22.5 (Total:  69.5) for Duran, 73.1  Tolle 13.9 and Casas 0.0 (Total 87.0).  

The Red Sox need a proven, veteran SP.  Wallner provides a DH/Power option.  The Red Sox are probably going to add a FA 1B so Casas is expendable.  They can afford to give up Tolle because they will have Ryan.  Casas finally gives the Twins a young power hitting 1B they can build around.  The Twins need to move Ryan to the highest bidder who has the right pieces.  If they engage with multiple teams, an overbid should materialize.  Tolle is just another young, talented arm that would challenge for a spot in the starting rotation.  He may also provide the Twins some flexibility to consider trading more pitching for hitting and defense.  

[tony&rodney]

10 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

The idea of Soderstrom from the A's is certainly worth having a conversation.  I do think there are a LOT of teams that would have interest in Ryan and I think the slower pace of the off season as opposed to the chaos of the deadline works to the Twins benefit.  

I still think the Red Sox are a good candidate with a number of players that would work for the Twins.  However, I think the conversation with the Red Sox Sox need to start with a Major League player, probably one of their FOUR outfielders.  According to BBTV Anthony and Jarren Duran are the highest values.  Duran is valued quite a bit higher than Ryan.  Wilyer Abreu and Ceddane Rafael are each valued significantly below Ryan.  But each of them won a Gold Glove last season.  Abreu won his 2nd consecutive as a RF and Rafaela won his as a CF but he's also a pretty darn good SS.

Which of those OF would the Red Sox be willing to part with?  First off, Anthony is of the table, so the list shrinks to Duran, Abreu and Rafaela.  Duran would be a great fit for the Twins because he'd be a defensive upgrade at either corner spot and a reliable backup option in CF for Buxton.  He's also be a great top of the order catalyst with Luke Keaschall.

But the Twins need more than one player and with Duran valued higher than Ryan would it need to be one-for-one?  As good as Duran is, one-for one doesn't work for the Twins, they have more holes to fill.  I'm not sure how the Red Sox value their own players, especially those OF.  But a trade of Ryan 47 and Wallner 22.5 (Total:  69.5) for Duran, 73.1  Tolle 13.9 and Casas 0.0 (Total 87.0).  

The Red Sox need a proven, veteran SP.  Wallner provides a DH/Power option.  The Red Sox are probably going to add a FA 1B so Casas is expendable.  They can afford to give up Tolle because they will have Ryan.  Casas finally gives the Twins a young power hitting 1B they can build around.  The Twins need to move Ryan to the highest bidder who has the right pieces.  If they engage with multiple teams, an overbid should materialize.  Tolle is just another young, talented arm that would challenge for a spot in the starting rotation.  He may also provide the Twins some flexibility to consider trading more pitching for hitting and defense.  

A trade with Boston as you suggested would be reasonable. I'm not really all in on Abreu but he is good. I do think that either of Rafaela or Duran would be very helpful to the Twins team. I lean Rafaela a bit more due to his long friendly contract and he seems like a player who is going to consistently improve plus the defense is top shelf. My suggestion of Soderstrom considers his four remaining years before free agency, his rapid defensive improvement, and his bat speed making him a solid bet to continue with plus offense. I'm not as concerned about adding other pieces in a trade as getting the best player available. In fact, I could see adding a player like Alan Roden to Ryan if the return were Soderstrom. The fact remains we have no idea if teams will engage on the type of thoughts we promote. We can only hope. There should be very high and serious interest in Joe Ryan, especially in view of how the recent playoffs highlighted the importance of great pitching. Boston was serious about adding Crochet last offseason and paid a dear price. That loss of players did not hinder their team in 2025. I'm pretty sure if I were a serious Boston fan I would cheer on a trade for Joe Ryan because the price, while very steep, should not impede progress for the Red Sox in 2026. I say that despite preferring that the Twins trade with either Sacramento or Detroit.

[Riverbrian]

There are a lot of decent Red Sox options to consider for a Joe Ryan. It's amazing that they have a lot of decent options. 

How do the Red Sox have so many options to consider? Look at the Red Sox and figure out how they did it because it's exactly what the Twins need to do. The Twins need a Chaim Bloom like development shift.  

We talk a lot about Milwaukee and Cleveland development these days and rightfully so... However... The Red Sox!!! 

Dave Dombrowski won a world series and was fired shortly afterwards because he basically burned down the farm system to nothing left while running out of money at the same time. When Chaim Bloom was hired in October, 2019 to clean things up.  He had to rebuild that farm system, cut pay immediately to get under the luxury tax threshold. He had to walk in and trade Betts as his first act... right in front of those crazy Red Sox fans. Betts was the guy big enough that he could attach Price to the deal for a quick 43 million dollar cut. Easy Peasy... Cut Payroll, Build a depleted farm system and and... Boston wasn't going to tolerate any losses.

Chaim wasn't able to do the winning thing but look how quickly he rebuilt that farm system in the 4 years he was in the chair. Not just the number of prospects but highly ranked prospects. Teel and Meidroth over in South Chicago are a couple of Bloom ERA guys.  Anthony, Abreu, Mayer, Early, Campbell, Hamilton are Bloom Era additions on the current roster. They still have 4 top 100 prospects that we can talk about for Joe Ryan. 

The Red Sox have enough young talent that they can trade Devers and get better after they trade him. They have enough players making the minimum that they can comfortably shop for any free agent talent. 

The Twins need this type of Bloom thing. The Cards are in good hands.

Red Sox fans hate Bloom. They should be sending Bloom Thank You cards.