Arguably the most publicized failed trade at MLB’s deadline was the Boston Red Sox’ pursuit of Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan. Craig Breslow maintained that Boston was aggressive but, obviously, the deal couldn’t get over the finish line in time.
However, as more information has come out about which players, it’s been harder to understand why the Twins, in the middle of a teardown, didn’t make the trade. And if the latest rumor of what the Red Sox had on the table is true, that’s even more so the case.
MLB insider Jon Heyman dropped the bombshell on the Twins-Red Sox talks about Ryan, reporting for the New York Post ($) that Boston’s former top prospect Marcelo Mayer had his name brought up in the conversations.
“The Red Sox came late too for the ultra-busy Twins, who somehow found time to trade nearly 40 percent of their roster (10 of 26),” Heyman said. “Top Red Sox prospects Franklin Arias (SS), Jhostynxon Garcia (OF) and Payton Tolle (LHP) all were mentioned (as was INF Marcelo Mayer), but the Twins didn’t want to rush into trading their ace, especially when controllable starters bring comparable value in winter.”
If Mayer was actually on the table meaningfully on Boston’s part, the Twins will be looking back for years to come regretting not trading Ryan to the Red Sox at the deadline.
Twins turning down Joe Ryan trade for Red Sox’ Marcelo Mayer is laughably bad
Mayer has been a Top 15 prospect in baseball all season and was actually called up to Boston, albeit as a byproduct of the Alex Bregman injury, before Roman Anthony. Though he’s currently sidelined with a mysterious wrist injury, the rookie at 22 years old has shown some promising signs.
While the .228 average and .674 OPS aren’t otherworldly through 44 career major-league games, his demeanor and approach at the plate have largely been impressive, which is also true of the flashes of power with four homers, eight doubles and one triple on the year. Even better, he’s proven to be versatile defensively in the way that he can play third, shortstop or second base at an extremely high level, extraordinarily so for such a young player.
Now, it should be noted that Heyman doesn’t fully clarify in what context Mayer’s name was thrown into the Ryan trade talks between the Red Sox and Twins, whether he was part of a package, on his own, or if it was even all that serious of a suggestion.
However, given where Minnesota was heading at that point, adding a young player with the pedigree of Mayer would’ve made all the sense in the world, even at the expense of giving up Ryan.
The Twins sold nearly half of their major-league roster at the trade deadline and are clearly tearing the team down. Yes, it’s because the franchise is set to be sold, but it also subsequently means that they’re bout to enter a rebuild. Ryan, who has just two years of control left after this season, likely won’t be part of that. Mayer, who has at least five years of control left, could’ve been, though.
Twins won’t get anything for close to Mayer for Joe Ryan in an offseason trade
What makes that worse is that the Red Sox by even mentioning Mayer were clearly prepared to pay the premium that’s required for a controllable starter at the trade deadline. But now that the Twins held onto Ryan, that likely goes away. Many expect Minnesota to still trade its ace this offseason, but it’ll be substantially less than it would’ve been before 6 p.m. ET on July 31.
Just look at what Boston did last offseason.
They inquired with the White Sox about Garrett Crochet, and Chicago reportedly asked for Roman Anthony or Mayer. The Red Sox said no, then reignited discussions in the offseason and landed Crochet for a nice prospect package, but no one near the level of Anthony or Mayer.
That’s now the reality that the Twins are going to have to live with if/when they trade Ryan this offseason.
They missed their best window to trade their ace for maximum value in the midst of a fire sale, and now they’ll ultimately be getting less in return when that move inevitable comes to fruition given the state of the franchise.
And depending on how real the Mayer offer was from the Red Sox, that could be a moment the Twins regret and that fans lament for a long, long time to come.
