The Minnesota Twins have made their deadline stance plain: Joe Ryan is staying put, and they’re not acting like sellers.
Former MLB general manager and insider Jim Bowden reported that the Twins will not trade Ryan and are approaching the deadline as buyers, with bullpen help at the top of their shopping list. The timing matters, too. Minnesota sits just one game behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot, and that position has clearly pushed the club toward reinforcing the roster rather than breaking it apart.
Ryan’s name had been floating in trade talk for weeks, helped along by the fact that he’s in the middle of a strong season. He signed a one-year, $6.2 million deal with the Twins to avoid salary arbitration, and the contract includes a $13 million mutual option for next year with a $100K buyout. For now, though, all of that appears secondary to Minnesota’s push for October.
The Twins also made a notable scheduling change with Ryan over the weekend. He was originally lined up to start against the Athletics on Sunday, but the team pushed him back to the series against the Kansas City Royals, which begins Tuesday.
That decision came after Ryan’s last outing, a rough one against the Guardians on Monday, when he gave up a career-high six home runs in a 13-4 loss. Manager Derek Shelton explained the move this way:
"He just had some general arm fatigue. And coming out of the break, after talking to him, Pete [Maki, pitching coach] and I talking to him, and then talking to Nick [Paparesta, head athletic trainer], it was just like, 'All right, let’s just move this back and get him back on track.'"
Ryan threw a bullpen session on Saturday, and the Twins will decide on his start against the Royals based on how he comes out of Sunday.
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For Minnesota, the uncomfortable part is that the roster has enough internal depth to make a sale feel plausible without immediately stripping the club bare. That gives the front office some cover, but it also raises the possibility that a productive bat could be moved for future value if the Twins decide the deadline should be about retooling rather than chasing a short-term push. [Read more 🡒]
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Joe Ryans situation is a little more encouraging, at least for now. The All-Star dealt with arm fatigue, but he has already gotten back on the mound in a bullpen session and is expected to pitch again soon, which gives Minnesota at least one stabilizing presence as it tries to piece things together. Even so, the latest setbacks only add to the pressure on the front office to find more pitching help before the season slips any further out of reach. [Read more 🡒]