Joe Ryan Has Put The Twins in a Tough Spot

[Cody Pirkl]

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Trading Joe Ryan was certainly on the table last offseason after the trade deadline sell-off. The team chose to stay the course and aim for contention in 2026. It's worked; Ryan has been an anchor for the Twins so far as they’ve hung around in the wild card picture. But when the organization doubled down on setting their sights on the postseason, the annual questions about Ryan’s ability to help in the second half became impossible to ignore. The Twins have been put in a difficult spot.

Ryan’s season took a complete 180 in his last three starts, allowing 16 earned runs in 15 ⅓ innings before heading to the injured list with a glute strain. This ostensibly minor injury could explain Ryan’s downturn, but the context of his historical struggles in the second half of the season is concerning. As the team continues to hang around in the playoff picture, they’re now without their ace, and even if his IL stay is short-lived, it’s fair to wonder what version of Ryan shows up whenever he is activated.

The Twins had enough concerns in the rotation without Ryan’s notorious second-half splits showing up again. The team’s acquisition of Dean Kremer as rotation depth is now a necessity. Even with the innings Kremer will add to the rotation, it’s difficult to imagine the team making the postseason without Ryan returning to form.

Ryan’s sample size of struggling in the second half has grown to such a point that it’s as much a part of his story as the back-to-back All-Star appearances. The team was fortunate to be in a reasonable spot to buy at the deadline, as Ryan allowing six homers to Cleveland on July 20th would have raised some eyebrows from potentially acquiring teams. That may be irrelevant now, but if Ryan either spends an extended amount of time on the IL or returns as a shell of his first-half self again, skepticism will only grow stronger.

The Twins may very well have Ryan penciled into their 2027 plans, and there is a strong argument that they should. If that’s the case, they may need to give special consideration to making sure they have the starting pitching depth and talent to make it through the second half. Injuries in the pitching staff can happen anytime, but Ryan’s drop-offs late in the season are becoming something worth planning for.

Even if he's in their plans, the Twins may be open to listening on calls regarding Ryan in the offseason in case another team wants to blow them away. It seems far less likely for that to happen than it has in past years. As the second-half struggles rear their ugly head again, teams are certain to question whether Ryan can be counted on during the most important stretch of the season. The Twins had previously asked for two top-100 prospects in return for Ryan, with some teams reportedly ready to meet that demand. It’s worth questioning whether the Twins would get anything close to that return at this point.

The Twins are in a bad spot now as a contending team in need of their ace. They also likely don’t have nearly as much flexibility this offseason if they are open to trading him. Joe Ryan has been a massive addition to the rotation the last several years, but his pattern of second-half struggles threatens to put a real damper on the tail end of his Twins career.

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How should they move forward? What would you advise? Let us know in the comments.

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[DJL44]

Bradley is the ace on this team. Ryan is the #2 guy

[EGFTShaw]

Joe Ryan PUT the Twin is in a bind????

I am sure he spent hours trying to find a way to do that.

Uggg...one of the reasons I read less and less of the Twins Daily. 

Sensationalism.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Joe Ryan isn't putting the Twins in a tough spot at all.  Granted the Twins should have likely traded him at the last deadline and then this offseason.   However Tom Pohlad wants to win and regain fan trust and wouldn't allow Falvey to trade him.  That is Toms decision making not Joe putting the Twins in a bad spot.  As to Joe Ryans decline in the second half for the longest time I have said the team should give him a 2-3 week break maybe even a month in Late July early August. .  He is a player that struggles to handle the rigors of a full season.  Let him rest,  regain strength and then push towards the end.  His velocity had cratered making his fastball extremely hittable.  

[nicksaviking]

They shouldn't trade him. This team is soooooo under budget right now and have very few holes to fill despite what their record says. Use the current player equity to go trade for another top of the rotation arm, like they did with Lopez, Gray, Maeda and Odorizzi.

The 2027 rotation of Ryan, New ****Good**** starter, Bradley, Lopez, plus one upside Prielipp/Rojas/Abel would make the rotation as formidable as it's been in a long time. The team would have both depth in AAA and in the pen to ease off Ryan for the stretch run if needed. 

[bean5302]

Joe Ryan probably has minimal trade value this offseason. I don't think he's worth moving. There has to be an assumption his final arb contract is near $20MM so his trade value is going to be pretty low.

[Patzky]

50 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

They shouldn't trade him. This team is soooooo under budget right now and have very few holes to fill despite what their record says. Use the current player equity to go trade for another top of the rotation arm, like they did with Lopez, Gray, Maeda and Odorizzi.

The 2027 rotation of Ryan, New ****Good**** starter, Bradley, Lopez, plus one upside Prielipp/Rojas/Abel would make the rotation as formidable as it's been in a long time. The team would have both depth in AAA and in the pen to ease off Ryan for the stretch run if needed. 

For shame placing Pablo Lopez fourth in the rotation. Have you no decency sir? 😬😁 I'm mildly teasing but if that's the spot we find ourselves in life will be good in Ft Myers next spring, so long as our health holds out.

 

For now outside of seeking wins toward a run, my questions are 1) How must more Conner Prielipp are we going to see this season and in what role. 2) Will we be pushing Joe hard toward either playoffs or impressing potential suitors this winter? 3) Will we stretch out Rojas to become a starter by 2027, and will we shrink Zebby's workload toward becoming a reliever in 2027 or even in the playoffs in 26?