Joe Ryan’s Close Call Could Expedite Minnesota’s Trade Deadline Decision

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

On Sunday, Joe Ryan walked off the mound after just nine pitches, and Twins Territory collectively held its breath. The initial diagnosis was right elbow soreness. With Pablo López already sidelined for the season following Tommy John surgery, concern spread quickly. Minnesota fans have seen this story before, and it rarely ends well.

Fortunately, the tone shifted quickly. Imaging revealed no structural damage, and Ryan was back on the field playing catch before Tuesday’s game. A bullpen session Wednesday went well, and there is a real chance Ryan takes his next turn in the rotation. For now, the organization and its fan base can ease their nerves, even if only slightly.

“I didn’t feel too much discomfort,” Ryan said. “You never know. The injuries I’ve had in the past have kind of been—it wasn’t this excruciating pain or anything crazy, and then I’ve been optimistic on the other side and had bad results. This time around, having good results definitely was, obviously, a win-win and reassuring. You never know until the imaging comes back.”

“There will be a watchful eye,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “The first thing you want with any of your players, or especially your pitchers, is if they feel something, especially in their arm, we want them to communicate it. We want to make sure we’re not going to put him in harm’s way. We will carefully monitor this situation. The one really great thing about Joe is, he is probably in tune with his body as any player I’ve ever been around. He can articulate really well what he’s feeling.”

That awareness represents growth. Not long ago, Ryan tried to pitch through an injury, rather than being proactive about communication with the team. In 2023, he took the ball against the Atlanta Braves despite dealing with a groin issue suffered during warmups. The results were brutal (5 homers), and the lingering effects were even worse. He carried the injury through multiple outings, posting an ERA north of 8.00 before finally acknowledging something was wrong. This time, he did the opposite. He spoke up immediately, and that decision may have prevented a far more serious outcome.

Still, even a minor scare like this can ripple through a front office. Coming into this season, Ryan looked as important to the Twins' future as anyone on the team—whether he was destined to be physically present in Minnesota for that future or not. His name has surfaced in trade speculation before, including last year when a false report briefly sent him to the Boston Red Sox in the rumor mill. That chatter has not disappeared. If anything, it's growing louder as the deadline approaches.

This situation complicates things. On one hand, Ryan’s clean MRI and quick return to throwing should reassure potential buyers. On the other hand, it serves as a reminder of how fragile pitching depth can be. Minnesota has already lost López for the year, and Ryan himself missed significant time in 2024 with a shoulder strain that ended his season early. That track record matters, both internally and in trade conversations.

If the team has decided that trading Ryan is the best way to balance their short- and long-term competitive goals, this scare could motivate them to act fast. Waiting until late July won't materially increase his value, and in the meantime, all the injury risk associated with him is the Twins' to manage. An early trade to one of the many teams who weren't so lucky this spring when their ace came up with a barking elbow makes sense. 

There's also the possibility that this moment pushes Minnesota in the opposite direction. Rather than entertaining offers, the front office could decide that holding onto Ryan is the safer path. Twins ownership has been vocal about the team contending this year, even if the results haven’t matched that narrative. Contending teams rarely subtract stability from their rotation, and even a brief injury scare can reinforce just how important that stability is.

The more aggressive scenario would be exploring an earlier move, perhaps in June, once Ryan has reestablished himself. That approach would be unconventional, but it could allow the Twins to maximize return while avoiding the frenzy and uncertainty of late July. Of course, any acquiring team would scrutinize his medical history closely, making this far from a straightforward decision.

Ryan’s nine-pitch outing Sunday may not impact the standings, but it could shape the direction of the season. The Twins were given a fortunate outcome this time: clean imaging, quick recovery, and no immediate damage. But it also served as a reminder that plans can change instantly. For a team with an unclear future, that kind of reminder can be enough to rethink everything.

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Should the Twins consider an early trade deadline deal for Ryan? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[DJL44]

You think they will throw in the towel when they’re 2.5 games out of first place?

[thelanges5]

Extend or trade. They have to do something. Standing pat and running out the same core roster every year since 23 has gotten us to where we are today.

[thelanges5]

12 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You think they will throw in the towel when they’re 2.5 games out of first place?

Probably fits Tom’s definition of competitive 🤣

[Whitey333]

Only 2.5 games out?  Big deal.  Thus is not a major league baseball team.  Way too many holes and what ifs.  Ive been supporting a Ryan trade and Lopez and Jeffers for several months?  Why?  Because the Twins are a team stuck in the mud and going nowhere.  Tgey should have traded both Ryan and Lopez when they had the chance.  They could have gotten decent value.  Now Lopez will bring you very little after he recovers from Tommy John surgery.  Ryan has already had a few injuries.  They blew their chance months ago with a false provado of contending.  The other day there was only 3 of the 15 American League teams with a record over 500.  That will change as the pretenders are separated from the real contenders.  The Twins real contenders? Who among us watches them and thinks they are contenders?  They have some promising players but the are not contenders in 2026.

[Jeff K]

I really like Ryan, but I can not conceive of the Twins paying him market value AND I can't see Ryan wanting to resign with the Twins.  As noted by others, this is not a contending team.  They should maximize Ryan's value through a trade.

[mike8791]

If you really believe the Twins can compete the entire season with this bullpen then, no, Ryan shouldn't be traded.  But with the pen's performance to date, coupled with the FOs feeble attempts to add "talent" with their waiver wire pickups, such a belief is totally unrealistic, especially when you add in the holes in the lineup and subpar defense.

If Ryan returns to form in the next few weeks, then a trade should be considered, but only if it brings back one sure-fire major leaguer(either for 1B, 3B, or SS) plus one top 100 MLB prospect.  There are a number of true-contenders, like Cubs, Astros, Padres, Tigers, who have been devastated by injuries to their rotations.  We have the makings of a decent rotation, led by Bradley& Abel, with Ober,and Prielipp, plus either Mathews, SWR, or  Rojas as possibilities for #5 spot.  This is not a contender's rotation this year but with Lopez back next year, this could be an above average rotation in 2027, even without Ryan.

I don't expect anything to happen before the trade deadline but at the very least this FO should be listening to offers and pull the trigger if they can greatly improve a below average lineup with one or two starting players.

[Major League Ready]

A potential deal with Boston at last year's deadline seemed legit.  Could they have gotten Arias and another top prospect?  Maybe that speculation by the baseball writers was never going to happen.  However, if that possibility was real, their delusions of being a contender this year really hurt the team's future.  How good would the future look with Arias,  and the #3 pick in a couple months.  Arias is hitting .346 / .426 / .704 at AA as a 20 year old.  

[Patzky]

Happy Joe is going to be able to continue pitching, hopefully at the same level. We'll see soon enough.

How to proceed though.. the scare is just like public support for POTUS. You're never gonna change the people who support him, or who are against him. If you thought keeping Joe was the best course, now you're even more adamant about communicating an extension and expressing faith in him. If you thought he needed to be traded in the off-season you're holding your breath and hoping even more that they do something. Quick.

Red Sox? (Sonny reunion) Tigers? (Nooooo!) Dodgers? (Glasnow is hurt) Cubs? 

[Patzky]

27 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Probably fits Tom’s definition of competitive 🤣

All they have to do is go on a Cubs Run and voila!

[mickster]

32 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Extend or trade. They have to do something. Standing pat and running out the same core roster every year since 23 has gotten us to where we are today.

extend now

[rv78]

But it also served as a reminder that plans can change instantly. For a team with an unclear future, that kind of reminder can be enough to rethink everything.

When your Plan is to contend with has-beens and oft injured players changing it instantly, and constantly is required. They have created this all by themselves.. As far as the teams future being unclear, that's a mouthful. Failure, which is where they are at, and have been for a while now, requires change. Unfortunately they don't understand change has to be something different from what they have done in the past. 

[Hunter4848]

49 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You think they will throw in the towel when they’re 2.5 games out of first place?

If they were a smart organization they would....

[TopGunn#22]

In the moribund A.L. Central, where only ONE team has a positive run differential, I guess you could always say the Twins have a chance.  But we know better.  This team will be lucky to win 70 games.  They were never going to actually compete for anything this year.  

The Tigers are that only team with a positive run differential, and it will be interesting to see what THEY do with Tarik Skubal when he is finally healthy.  Skubal is not going to stay with the Tigers.  He's going to explore free agency.  The Tigers didn't sign Framber Valdez to bolster their pitching staff for 2026 as much as they did to prepare for life without Skubal after this season.

Any competent owner and GM would be working the phones to remake this Twins roster.  It's unclear how much of a hit Ryan's value has taken with this injury scare but at least they can get something for him.  Jeffers is repped by Scott Boras.  He's not signing an extension with the Twins.  Bailey Ober has rebuilt some value and should be traded ASAP.  Matt Wallner has now lost almost any value he had and with E-Rod, Jenkins and Gonzalez on the way, Wallner is a missed opportunity.  Larnach has increased his value slightly.  Dare I say Brooks Lee might have as well, but only slightly.

The Twins have done themselves no favors by not being aggressive traders before this season began (with the exception of Ober).  The fans are sending Tom Pohlad and the family a strong message.  "We don't want to watch your baseball team!!!"  "We will be disinterested in your baseball team until you finally sell it!!" 

It's time for the Pohlad's to realize this.  Start the major rebuild.  At a minimum, trade Ryan, Jeffers, Ober and Wallner.  Throw in SWR, Larnach and Lewis.  Bring in as much young talent as you can and play the kids.  Buxton is a tougher call.  He could bring a lot.  There's something to be said about having one star for the fans to come out and see.  But it's time to tear the present iteration of the Minnesota Twins down to the studs and begin building for the future.

It's 1981 all over again.  A strike/lockout is looming that could be LONG.  The Twins are a last place team with a hated ownership and empty seats in every TV shot during home games.  Give young pitchers a chance to learn how to pitch.  Bring up your Hrbek, Gaetti, and Eisnenreich.  Acquire a Brunansky and Gagne, and build something under new ownership that fans can get behind.   

[Stew]

If we keep him, we must fill a hole. Relief pitching. Probably two guys needed in the bullpen. From the looks of the division we would have a chance. It would cost good prospects.  But some of those guys we have been talking about for a few years. And even when they have good springs we won't keep them on the major league team. If we wait to bring players up when they get to be almost thirty.we will be paying them out of the price zone for this teams management. And getting less productive years.

[bean5302]

Ryan no longer has organizational change value. The trade needed to happen before Skubal's arbitration result if Joe Ryan was going to bring back a load. That arbitration result probably reduced Ryan's value by about $12MM in surplus right there.

On top of that, Ryan's peripherals and expected numbers are down this year and you add in an elbow injury scare?

Now, should Joe Ryan be traded before the deadline? Probably not given the AL Central's weakness right now. The Twins are only 2.5 GB from the lead.

[mickster]

25 minutes ago, Hunter4848 said:

If they were a smart organization they would....

I tend to disagree.  Are the Twins a good or great team at this time.  No.  THe division they play in that was one of the best in baseball a year or two ago is now the worst in the MLB.  The name of the game is to make it to postseason, and even with this subpar team they can do that so until it is out of reach they need to strive of it.  Anything can happen once you get to October.  The 87 Twins were nothing more than an average team that got hot and took home a title.  It was a great time and they built on that to become a better team in the following years and didn't win again until 91.