The Boston Red Sox have one of the best aces in the entire MLB in Garrett Crochet, but besides him, they don’t really have a No. 2 ace. And with Lucas Giolito not getting a qualifying offer, the Sox have nothing resembling one.
Luckily for them, MLB insider Jeff Passan believes he has the perfect offseason move to correct that. It would be a successful version of what they failed to do at the deadline: trading for Minnesota Twins All-Star Joe Ryan.
“At the trade deadline this past season, the Red Sox believed they were close to landing Joe Ryan, an elite arm who had his best year yet for the Twins in 2025. As long as Red Sox ownership keeps the financial clamps on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, he'll need to get creative in improving a Red Sox team that's already quite good. Revisiting what he missed at the deadline is the simplest way to do so, and as much as the Twins say they want to win in 2026, they understand: Now is the time to strike and dealing Boston another front-line starter to pair alongside Garrett Crochet is the way to do it,” Passan wrote.
This past season, Ryan posted a 13-10 record, a 3.42 ERA, 194 Ks, and a whip of 1.035 over 171 innings pitched. He also was doing much better until he hit a rough patch at the end of the season; before that, he posted a 10-5 record, a 2.82 ERA, and 137 Ks in 21 appearances.
If Ryan goes to the Sox and has the offseason to work with pitching coach Andrew Bailey, he could definitely keep his pre-rough-patch self going for a whole season. Pair that with Crochet, and arms like Brayan Bello, Connelly Early, and Payton Tolle, or Kutter Crawford, and the Sox have one of the most feared rotations in the American League.
Hopefully, the Sox listen to Passan and get to fixing the mistake they made at the deadline. Otherwise, some other contender will swoop right in and trade for Ryan before Boston can do anything.
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