The Boston Red Sox were fairly quiet ahead of the 2025 trade deadline, acquiring Steven Matz in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals before reportedly picking up Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
One guy the Red Sox were heavily linked to over the past few weeks was Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan. After Boston struck out in their pursuit of Merrill Kelly, who landed with the Texas Rangers, reports surfaced that they were turning their attention to Ryan.
Fans were briefly fooled into thinking that the Red Sox completed a deal for Ryan when that report was misinterpreted by Yahoo Sports and Fox Sports. Soon after that, the aforementioned deal for May went public.
Ryan was a hot commodity in the eyes of Sox fans, and while the Twins embarked on a complete fire sale, they didn’t move their All-Star hurler. Despite their late push, a new report indicates that Boston was not particularly close to acquiring Ryan.
“Source on Red Sox’ pursuit of Joe Ryan: ‘Not even close,'” Chris Cotillo of MassLive shared on X.
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Picking up Ryan would have been a huge win for Boston, as he’s enjoying the best season of his career (10-5, 2.82 ERA, 137 K, 0.92 WHIP). Minnesota’s asking price for Ryan was always going to be quite high, so it appears the Red Sox pivoted and found a cheaper option.
In exchange for May, the Red Sox reportedly traded away James Tibbs III, their No. 5 overall prospect. Tibbs was picked up earlier this year from the Rafael Devers trade with the San Francisco Giants.
In 2025, May has been a bit all over the place, posting a 4.85 ERA in 19 outings. However, he’s remained healthy for the longest stretch of his career, and if he can find his form, this deal could end up working out quite well for Boston.
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Featured image via Matt Blewett/Imagn Images
