It took the Red Sox 3 days to prove Twins should've traded them Joe Ryan

Despite a rampant fire sale at the MLB Trade Deadline, the Minnesota Twins elected not to deal Joe Ryan, specifically to the Boston Red Sox. Craig Breslow took a ton of heat for not getting the deal across the finish line, but details have emerged suggesting that the Twins were effectively asking for the world to move their star right-hander. Most notably, the Red Sox weren't willing to deal from their major-league roster and the Twins wouldn't take an offer centered around two of Boston's three Top 100 prospects: Jhostynxon Garcia, Payton Tolle and Franklin Arias. And Garcia only needed three games to fill Minnesota with regret over that.

Garcia, famously nicknamed "The Password", has been on a tear since being promoted to Triple-A but has turned up the heat even further since the trade deadline. In his three games since for Worcester, he's hit a home run in each of them. He's now up to 15 homers for the season in just 54 games at the highest level of the minors and is sporting a .303 average with a .952 OPS as well.

Now, this isn't to say that The Password would be doing this in the major leagues had the Twins traded for him and potentially promoted him from Triple-A. However, Minnesota is clearly selling off the present right now to hopefully build for the future. And Garcia certainly looks like an enticing piece.

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Red Sox prospect Jhostynxon Garcia making Twins regret turning down Joe Ryan trade offer

The cold, calculated truth of the Twins is that the team made the decision to be egregious sellers at the trade deadline because they're posturing to sell the franchise and needed to clear out both payroll and some of the debt in order to make that feasible. While Ryan isn't expensive with two years of arbitration remaining on his contract, a package of prospects would've still been substantially cheaper while also helping Minnesota better set the future up with a prospect like Garcia who is clearly trying to knock down to the door to get to the majors.

Instead, the Twins added some prospects for the players they did send out, whether that's Willi Castro or Danny Coulombe or Louie Varland or whoever else. However, with what Garcia is doing right now with the WooSox, it does beg the question of if the team could've been better set up if they were more realistic when it came to an offer for Ryan on the trade market.

Furthermore, while there is still a chance that Ryan could be traded this offseason and, frankly, that the Red Sox will be at the front of the line in terms of suitors, their chance to land Garcia might've already passed.

Twins might be left wanting if they now trade Joe Ryan in offseason

First of all, Ryan's trade value isn't going to be the same in the offseason as it was at the deadline, which the Red Sox know keenly. Just last year, Boston discussed a deadline Garrett Crochet trade with the White Sox but Chicago asked for Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer. The Red Sox hung up the phone, and then didn't have to trade Anthony, Mayer or Kristian Campbell to land their new southpaw ace in Crochet.

If Garcia continues to tear up Triple-A for the remainder of the 2025 season, he could be someone who becomes off the table for the Red Sox in any offer. That's only furthered by the fact that Boston is now going to give The Password a look at first base over the coming weeks and months, giving them yet another option to potentially fill that void if Triston Casas is unhealthy or, realistically, gets Wally Pipp'd.

All this is to say, there's a viable chance that the Twins missed their one chance to land a prospect like Garcia who is showing every sign that he has some real star potential at the next level. And with the current state of the roster and perhaps the future in Minnesota too, that could be something that haunts them for years to come when they end up without Ryan or The Password.