By now, we all know about the faux deal between the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins involving Joe Ryan, which was misreported as a completed deal for the Red Sox just minutes before Thursday's 6 p.m. ET trade deadline. We knew that it was a missed opportunity to get some much-needed help for Boston's starting staff ahead of the stretch run. What we didn’t know, though, is that they actually had a chance to land Ryan — they just didn’t because of their own incompetence.
It’s not uncommon for deadline deals to come down to the wire, but those deals typically have been negotiated for some time and just take until the last second to finalize. But apparently with the Red Sox, Craig Breslow decided he didn’t want to "seriously" engage in talks about acquiring Ryan until 15 minutes before the deadline. According to a report from The Athletic's Dan Hayes, Minnesota didn't have much time at all to consider whatever packages Boston was offering, much less make a considered counter. That's hardly conducive to getting something done.
The Twins had already shipped off just about every other top player on their roster, which seems to suggest they were willing to pull the plug on Ryan as well. Had Breslow taken the trade seriously, maybe they could have actually landed him. IIf things don't break right, it will be what haunts them the rest of this season.
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Boston Red Sox could have landed Joe Ryan if not for their own incompetence
Breslow knew how important landing a high-end starter at the deadline was, so why he waited all day before seriously engaging in talks with the Twins about Ryan is baffling. The Twins were at the center of deals left and right, offloading their roster one by one. That would have been the best time to throw in an offer on Ryan to see what it would take.
The crazy thing, too, is that the Red Sox were willing to part ways with quite a few prospects to land Ryan. They just waited too long to the point where it was less appealing to deal Ryan that close to the end of the deadline, asking the Twins to essentially fly blind with their one remaining trade chip.
The Red Sox will regret being cavalier in the most important point of the season for them. They traded Rafael Devers and finally started to show why they needed to part ways with him. Last week was a chance to make it clear to the rest of the league they were ready to contend this year.
Instead, Breslow proved he’s clueless. This season has been weird for the Red Sox already, and losing out on Ryan they way they did just adds to it. Maybe this is one of those Devers situations where they might be better off without Ryan in the long run, but he sure seems like a perfect fit on paper.
How this season ends will determine if the Red Sox' whiff on Ryan will haunt them or whether it was a blessing in disguise. Either way, they learned a valuable lesson about how to handle the trade deadline. This season is the perfect example of what not to do.