The Boston Red Sox came into the MLB trade deadline looking to buy but president of baseball operations Craig Breslow froze with his credit card in hand. Boston was able to add Steven Matz and Dustin May to help the pitching staff, but it overall was a lackluster attempt to bolster a team that is firmly in the postseason picture.
While both trades could become infamous if they don’t pan out, there’s a greater chance that Red Sox fans will regret some of the deals they didn’t make. That includes an embarrassing attempt to land an ace ahead of Thursday’s deadline, which should have Boston furious as they enter the final months of the season.
Red Sox Made Laughable Effort to Acquire Joe Ryan at MLB Trade Deadline
According to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes and Jen McCaffrey, the Red Sox contacted the Minnesota Twins about the availability of Joe Ryan prior to Thursday’s trade deadline. While Boston was interested, they balked at the cost to acquire the 2025 All-Star when the Twins asked for them to part with one of their big league outfielders or “an enticing enough package of top-tier prospects.”
Among the Twins’ targets were current big leaguers Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abru. Duran had been the topic of trade discussion in the weeks leading up to the deadline, but nothing came to fruition despite heavy interest from the San Diego Padres. Abreu also would have been a steep price to pay, but could have been worth it considering Duran, Roman Anthony and Ceddane Rafaela would have been an adequate trio to make up for it.
Even the top prospects were apparently off limits for Ryan. The Athletic’s report states that Jhostynxon Garcia was mentioned in a potential deal but the rest of the haul “wasn’t substantial enough to land Ryan.”
The decision not to go all-in on Ryan sends another mixed message from Breslow and the front office. The Twins star has gone 10-5 with a 2.82 ERA this season and is under team control through the 2027 campaign. Pairing him with current ace Garrett Crochet would have given Boston a formidable top of the rotation, not only for this postseason push but for the next two seasons. Mix in the fact that the Twins were hell-bent on blowing up their roster with 10 players traded since the beginning of the week, and the cost may not have been as steep as you would think.
But Breslow’s pearl-clutching sabotaged a potential deal and drew criticism from MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, who called the Red Sox’ deadline “an epic fail.”
“They met the same problem that the [Chicago Cubs] ran into…but my understanding is any talks they had with the Twins were feeble at best, They didn’t come at them hard,” Rosenthal said of the Red Sox’ deadline on Thursday night’s episode of Fair Territory. “The Red Sox are one of many teams that uses modeling and tries to figure out what the best values are, and it’s all about efficiency, getting the best deal and this and that, the other thing. At some point, you’ve got to fire.”
It’s a trend that has continued with the Red Sox even before Breslow took over. While Boston has shown some aggressiveness, such as the offseason trade for Crochet and the 11th-hour signing of Alex Bregman in free agency, they’ve also slammed the brakes, including the midseason blockbuster that sent Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.
Even Breslow contradicted himself by claiming “The future is now” after the Devers trade was made, but refusing to give up a prospect to make the team better. It’s something that has the Red Sox spinning their wheels and producing a good but not great product on the field.