Boston Red Sox fans are being pulled in two different directions when it comes to Joe Ryan. The Minnesota Twins ace remains a hotly desired trade target for fans (and perhaps for the team itself), but it remains a mystery just how available Ryan is, or ever was.
Once upon a time, also known as the final day of the 2025 MLB trade deadline, Ryan was confirmed by FOX Sports to have been traded to the Red Sox in a post to X that was deleted within a few minutes. Reporting blunder aside, the reality of Ryan remaining in Minnesota past the deadline was offset in Red Sox fans’ hearts by the apparent nearness of a trade. ‘If not now, surely this offseason!’ Red Sox Nation collectively surmised.
MLB insider Bob Nightengale recapped that sentiment recently in listing Ryan as a winter trade candidate, writing: “the Red Sox nearly pulled off a deal for Ryan at last year’s deadline, only for them to run out of time.”
‘Yes, and now with more time, a deal is inevitable!’ has been the continued thought train of Boston supporters eyeing a 2026 run to the World Series, with Ryan in tow as the No. 2 starter the club covets.
MLB insiders are providing completely different intel about the Red Sox and Joe Ryan
This would all be well if not for a bombshell dropped this week by another ultra-reliable insider, ESPN’s Jeff Passan. In tandem with ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, Passan revealed that, “for all the rumors about Ryan at the trade deadline, the Twins never came close to finalizing a deal.”
Just a shocking development in the Joe Ryan blurb over at ESPN by @JeffPassan and @kileymcd today: “For all the rumors about Ryan at the trade deadline, the Twins never came close to finalizing a deal.”
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 2, 2025
Never came close?! Fans’ assumptions about Ryan were torn asunder by Passan’s sentence. Post-Passan, Red Sox die-hards are now wondering who they can trust, and whether or not all of the Ryan buzz for months has been nothing but a cruel mirage.
Meanwhile, Twins supporters are having fun with the whole ordeal, no doubt laughing at the most delusional of Ryan expectants. And the story’s just begun, as Ryan is by no report unavailable, despite the conflicting sources. The Red Sox’s arms may remain outstretched for Ryan, but everything ultimately depends on Minnesota’s president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, who also has an alternative starting pitcher trade chip in Pablo López.
A Ryan-Red Sox trade has seemingly already happened dozens of times, especially in the minds of fans, writers, and analysts alike proposing more than viable mocks. But Passan’s Ryan moment was a huge shift in the plot. Moving forward, what seemed wholly inevitable will actually now come as a surprise if it indeed does happen.