Tom Pohlad has painted this team into a corner. By keeping Ryan and Lopez past their expiration dates for maximum trade return, the only real value they have left is as solid starters for a contending ballclub.
The trouble is that neither Ryan nor Lopez are aces at this point. Neither is Bradley. Abel, Matthews and Kremer are question marks, and the others on the staff are even bigger question marks.
Hey, it all might click - I can't read the future. If it does, the folks here who are eating crow about wanting to "go for it" in 2026 are going to be serving the same dish to us in late 2027. I'd happily eat it, feathers and all.
But if it doesn't, it sets the team up for a repeated worse case scenario: clearly not good enough to win, but not bad enough to trigger the kinds of deadline trades and draft positions that can help a system add elite future players.
The next thing you know, you're the new Anaheim Angels.