The Red Sox have vaulted back into playoff contention thanks to a recent winning streak, and that has put them into buy mode at the upcoming trade deadline. Although their starting pitching has improved, it still figures to be an area of focus for Boston.
Unfortunately, despite numerous rumors suggesting otherwise, it appears that Twins ace Joe Ryan will not be on the market.
Ryan, who the Red Sox have been linked to for several weeks now, has taken a huge step forward in 2025, with a 2.72 ERA and 0.915 WHIP through 109 1/3 innings. He has an excellent 28.3% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. Not only that, but he's only earning $3 million this year and still has three years of club control remaining after 2025.
That makes Ryan a valuable commodity that is likely too precious for the Twins to trade. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal recently said that, "I don't know that the Twins are going to want to trade Joe Ryan. And that's the key thing here." Sorry, Red Sox fans.
Calm, cool and composed
— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2025
Joe Ryan stays with the play on the comebacker! pic.twitter.com/poBOdcHV7I
Red Sox' chances for Twins' Joe Ryan trade not looking good
Rosenthal continued, saying, "So if the Twins don’t want to trade Joe Ryan and all these other teams that have theoretical No. 2s, and there may be a couple of them that even would factor into such a conversation, it’s going to be difficult to do. So you may have to look at other alternatives." Not only that, but there's still a possibility that the Twins are buyers at the deadline.
With Ryan likely off the market, the Red Sox will have to pivot to other targets. Sandy Alcantara has been mentioned as a trade candidate all season thanks to his exceptional pedigree and club-friendly contract situation. However, while it looked like he was rounding into form about a month ago, he has struggled in his starts since then and currently owns a 7.14 ERA. The hope would be that a change of scenery helps Alcantara regain his form.
Another candidate with a great pedigree who has struggled this year is the Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen. Just two years removed from a third place finish in NL Cy Young voting, Gallen hasn't been able to get it going in 2025, logging a 5.40 ERA. Like with Alcantara, the Red Sox would have to bet on him benefitting from a fresh start. In short, the possible solutions after the dream target of Ryan look fairly bleak.