The Boston Red Sox's starting rotation has stepped up to finish out the first half strong — Brayan Bello pitched his first complete game on July 8, Lucas Giolito has a 0.83 ERA in his last five starts, and Garrett Crochet is Garrett Crochet.
Despite its recent successes, Boston's rotation is still unreliable. Walker Buehler has a 6.25 ERA over 72 innings, and Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins are depth pitching options for a team in the playoff race. If the Red Sox hope to contend and be taken seriously in the second half, they'll need rotation reinforcements.
MLB insider Jon Morosi of MLB Network linked the Red Sox, among a few other unnamed clubs, to Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan. The Twins, Royals and Guardians are in a tight race for second place in the American League Central and Ryan has two more years of control on his contract after the 2025 season — Morosi clarified that Minnesota would need to be blown away by an offer to move its star pitcher this year.
The Red Sox have both the major and minor league capital to make such a trade happen, and Ryan would immediately become the much-needed No. 2 in their rotation. He's posted a 2.76 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, 116 strikeouts and 21 walks over 104.1 innings this season. Ryan didn't make the AL All-Star team, but he made a great case to join Crochet and the rest of MLB's best pitchers in Atlanta.
MLB insider Jon Morosi names Red Sox among 'a number of teams' as fits for Twins pitcher Joe Ryan
Glimpse of tonight's Experience pic.twitter.com/54wrjklSxp
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 26, 2025
It would take quite a package to get Ryan to Boston, but the Red Sox have a logjam in the outfield and plenty of quality prospects they could deal to get a trade done. Rumors surrounded Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu before Masataka Yoshida's return. The Sox's farm system is still loaded with elite talent, even with Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer in the big leagues, like Jhostynxon Garcia, Mikey Romero, Franklin Arias and David Sandlin, to name a few top trade chips.
Ryan would immediately take the Red Sox's rotation to the next level, and his contract could keep it that way for the next few seasons. There will be plenty of suitors in line for Ryan as the July 31 trade deadline closes in, but Boston should be close to the front of the pack given its pitching needs and tradable talent.