The Giants are considering trading Eldridge

[Riverbrian]

There ya Go.

Joe Ryan to San Francisco... He can go home. 

Bruce Eldridge back in return and we have a potential aircraft carrier for our future. 

[chpettit19]

I could get behind this base for a trade. 

Obviously have to bring Drew Gilbert back home, too. If only to piss off so many fans by adding another lefty outfielder.

[SteveLV]

It would have to be Eldridge plus some more, but a great framework for a trade if they are going to move Ryan.  

[Mike Sixel]

I mean....bone spur in his wrist? Y'all are braver than I. 

[SteveLV]

Apparently he played all year with it and had a clean up procedure after the season.  Twins fans' understandable leary of this condition given Kiriloff, but the articles I found and read seemed to downplay the significance of the cleanup and expect him to be 100% almost immediately.

[jorgenswest]

I just read a 2021 study in recovery of players following arthroscopic wrist surgery.

Quote

Ultimately, the RTS rate for players undergoing arthroscopic wrist surgery was 84%. Although most measures of performance were not significantly altered after surgery, there were some notable changes to player performance, including lower average runs per season, lower BAs, and lower WAR.

This next part seemed relevant. Eldridge is a right handed thrower. His surgery was on his left wrist.

Quote

 The authors theorize that first basemen may have shown a greater decrease in these parameters than other positions which may be due to the higher frequency with which they receive throws from other infielders to force runners out.

Note: quotes were taken from the Discussion portion of the report.

[tony&rodney]

Joe Ryan would likely sign a team friendly extension with San Francisco. He would be a huge pickup for the Giants.

Despite how highly Bryce Eldridge is rated, I think the Twins would have to require an additional big prospect - Josuar Gonzalez. That trade is a total gamble on the part of the Twins but could potentially pay off. There is nothing secure about either of those two highly thought of prospects.

[chpettit19]

18 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I mean....bone spur in his wrist? Y'all are braver than I. 

Isn't he already healed and back to normal? I believe that's what I saw.

[Riverbrian]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Joe Ryan would likely sign a team friendly extension with San Francisco. He would be a huge pickup for the Giants.

Despite how highly Bryce Eldridge is rated, I think the Twins would have to require an additional big prospect - Josuar Gonzalez. That trade is a total gamble on the part of the Twins but could potentially pay off. There is nothing secure about either of those two highly thought of prospects.

It's hard enough for me to try and run the Twins. Hard enough that I'm reluctant to try and run the Giants at the same time. With that said... those Giants sure could use starters. I'd be all over Ryan and I'd be bidding heavy for Framber.   

[jorgenswest]

7 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Isn't he already healed and back to normal? I believe that's what I saw.

The Giants report he is expected to recover from his October surgery by spring training.

They went in a did a clean up. What caused the problem? Is that fixed? Is he going to be able to handle the force of the number of throw a first baseman takes on that wrist? Is his normal going to be wrist pain with the workload of a first baseman?

[chpettit19]

5 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

The Giants report he is expected to recover from his October surgery by spring training.

They went in a did a clean up. What caused the problem? Is that fixed? Is he going to be able to handle the force of the number of throw a first baseman takes on that wrist? Is his normal going to be wrist pain with the workload of a first baseman?

He played the entire season with the wrist problem. Is it possible the surgery made it worse? Sure. But I'd guess the odds are quite small. 

Players have offseason cleanups all the time. I'm far more worried about Festa's shoulder than a guy's wrist who played through the injury all season while putting up impressive enough AAA numbers to debut at the age of 20.

There are concerns with every player in professional sports. They all get nicked up. They all play through pain. They're all injury risks. They'd do a physical before the trade is official. If he can pass a physical there's no reason to freak out over anything, in my opinion. 

You can find reason for concern with every trade target. There's no trade with no risk. But there aren't many prospects of this level that get dealt. If the Twins can pair 21-year-old Bryce Eldridge with 21-year-old Walker Jenkins, I'd jump at the chance. Joe Ryan (likely the piece that'd go the other way) is just as big an injury risk as Eldridge is just by being a pitcher. He hasn't made it through a season with sustained dominance in his entire career. His elbow could explode in his first start. Or his first ST pen session. 

Do a physical. Pay specific attention to that wrist. If it all looks clear do the trade. Same as every other trade. 

[jorgenswest]

32 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He played the entire season with the wrist problem. Is it possible the surgery made it worse? Sure. But I'd guess the odds are quite small. 

Players have offseason cleanups all the time. I'm far more worried about Festa's shoulder than a guy's wrist who played through the injury all season while putting up impressive enough AAA numbers to debut at the age of 20.

There are concerns with every player in professional sports. They all get nicked up. They all play through pain. They're all injury risks. They'd do a physical before the trade is official. If he can pass a physical there's no reason to freak out over anything, in my opinion. 

You can find reason for concern with every trade target. There's no trade with no risk. But there aren't many prospects of this level that get dealt. If the Twins can pair 21-year-old Bryce Eldridge with 21-year-old Walker Jenkins, I'd jump at the chance. Joe Ryan (likely the piece that'd go the other way) is just as big an injury risk as Eldridge is just by being a pitcher. He hasn't made it through a season with sustained dominance in his entire career. His elbow could explode in his first start. Or his first ST pen session. 

Do a physical. Pay specific attention to that wrist. If it all looks clear do the trade. Same as every other trade. 

A bone spur is often caused by repeated stress in younger people. If that repeated stress on his left wrist was playing first base then what is to stop it from occurring again. He didn’t start playing 1B regularly until 2024 and then wrist trouble. In 2023 he was a right fielder and was drafted as a two player. The reports are that he is athletic enough to be a right fielder and he certainly has the arm. That might need to be his position.

He really crushes the ball. His exit velocity in AAA is a notch above Wallner with similar strike out rates but he is doing it at 20 years old. The Twins need this bat. I would be really cautious about putting that repeated stress on his wrist though unless they have determined the cause was from a different source and that source isn’t his violent swing. The Twins need a great bat more than they need a 1B. Trade for him. Put him in RF or DH and bat him in the middle of the line up. Hope his wrist holds up.

This is from Stanford Medicine’s Amy Ladd M.D. as reported by NBCSports Bay Area.

Quote

Dr. Ladd also discussed the possibility of Eldridge, who bats left and throws right-handed, potentially reinjuring or reaggravating his left wrist.

"So, it may be somehow that the batting is the most aggravating," Dr. Ladd said. "I don't know the details, but any time you put a wrist or a finger or something in an extreme position, then you're more likely to, what we call 'impingement,' to impinge, to kind of catch. So, if there were a crowding from a bone spur, that's where you'd probably see it. 

"So, batting may be more of an issue. So, he bats left-handed, which would mean he puts extreme wrist motion on the left hand. And he throws right-handed, so he catches with his left hand. So, same kind of impact in catching."

 

[Chembry]

42 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

It's hard enough for me to try and run the Twins. Hard enough that I'm reluctant to try and run the Giants at the same time. With that said... those Giants sure could use starters. I'd be all over Ryan and I'd be bidding heavy for Framber.   

The Giants have been on record saying they are reluctant to long term high value deals (over $100M) on starting P.  They view those types of contracts as significant risks because pitchers tend to wear down.  However, a recent report from MLBTR says that the Giants did meet with Valdez at the GM meetings. 

They may be out on on all the top FA SP (Cease (already signed), Valdez, Imai, Suarez) if they can't sign them to shorter deals. A trade may be their best bet to secure SP.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6852286/2025/12/01/sf-giants-tatsuya-imai-payroll/   

[chpettit19]

50 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

A bone spur is often caused by repeated stress in younger people. If that repeated stress on his left wrist was playing first base then what is to stop it from occurring again. He didn’t start playing 1B regularly until 2024 and then wrist trouble. In 2023 he was a right fielder and was drafted as a two player. The reports are that he is athletic enough to be a right fielder and he certainly has the arm. That might need to be his position.

He really crushes the ball. His exit velocity in AAA is a notch above Wallner with similar strike out rates but he is doing it at 20 years old. The Twins need this bat. I would be really cautious about putting that repeated stress on his wrist though unless they have determined the cause was from a different source and that source isn’t his violent swing. The Twins need a great bat more than they need a 1B. Trade for him. Put him in RF or DH and bat him in the middle of the line up. Hope his wrist holds up.

This is from Stanford Medicine’s Amy Ladd M.D. as reported by NBCSports Bay Area.

 

Yeah, the only thing I took out of that statement is that she doesn't know the specifics of Bryce Eldridge's situation. You have to have good medical professionals in your org doing good physicals and then you just have to trust them.

Bryce Miller battled bone spurs last year and came back to pitch very well in the playoffs without surgery then or in the offseason, just treatments to manage it.

Carlos Rodon had his surgery in October like Eldridge, and I don't think Yankee fans are hoping they trade the pitcher who made 33 starts with a 3.09 ERA last year while dealing with spurs in his elbow.

Caleb Durbin had his surgery in October like Eldridge and I'm betting the Brewers and their fans are excited to have him back at 3B next year.

Grayson Rodriguez had his cleanup in August to get rid of his spurs in his elbow and I'm betting the Angels are pretty excited about having him next year considering they just traded Taylor Ward for him.

I don't care if he plays RF, 1B, DH, or anywhere else. I agree that the Twins need a bat like he could (hopefully) provide. Let him play RF, 1B, and DH. Rotate through to manage stress if that's a concern the medical people have. If the medicals come back with something showing it's a real, long-term concern (like AK's wrist bone being too long) then stay away. But if they come back as looking like a normal wrist then he's the best prospect I've seen mentioned as a possible trade target if the Twins decide to move Ryan, so I'd take my chances.