Red Sox swing two deals before trade deadline, but miss out in Joe Ryan pursuit

Yahoo

05-08-2025

The Red Sox swung two deals in advance of Thursday's trade deadline, acquiring two veteran pitchers on expiring contracts to bolster their staff. Efforts for a bigger move fell short.
Boston acquired left-hander Steven Matz from the Cardinals for infielder Blaze Jordan overnight, then swung a deal with the Dodgers netting starter Dustin May for outfielder/first baseman James Tibbs III and outfielder Zach Ehrhard. Matz, who had been pitching in short stints for St. Louis, will join the bullpen but his starting experience makes him a candidate to be stretched out as a rotation candidate if the need arises later in the season. May will join Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and ex-teammate Walker Buehler, replacing Richard Fitts as the No. 5 man in Boston's rotation.
Boston made efforts to land bigger fish on the market but ultimately fell short. One was Minnesota All-Star Joe Ryan, who the Red Sox tried for — as multiple outlets reported — late on deadline day. While it seems Boston felt like it had a chance to provide a major rotation boost and land Ryan in the 11th hour, Twins decision-makers felt like their asking price was 'not even close' to being met, according to a major league source with knowledge of the discussions. It's unclear what the Red Sox' best and final offer was.
Ryan, who has two years of control remaining, remained with the Twins and was not dealt. The conversations had in recent weeks could lay the groundwork for an offseason trade much like initial conversations with the White Sox last summer informed the Red Sox on a path to eventually acquire Garrett Crochet in December.
Many other players linked to the Red Sox changed teams, including rental starters Merrill Kelly (traded from Arizona to Texas), Charlie Morton (Baltimore to Detroit), Shane Bieber (Cleveland to Toronto) and Adrian Houser (White Sox to Rays) and position players like Eugenio Suarez (Arizona to Seattle). Other players who intrigued the Red Sox stayed put, including Arizona's Zac Gallen and Tampa Bay's Yandy Díaz.
Matz and May are both free agents after the year who the Red Sox will pay for the rest of the season. Matz is earning $12 million in the final year of a four-year, $44 million contract this season and will be due about $4 million the rest of the way. May, who agreed to a $2.135 million deal to avoid arbitration with Los Angeles last winter, will earn around $700,000 for the rest of the year. Estimates have the Red Sox' collective bargaining tax (CBT) projection around $252 million, which is north of the tax threshold of $241 million.
To acquire Matz and May, Boston gave up three prospects. Jordan is a former high-bonus draftee ($1.75 million in 2020) who was at Triple-A but blocked from a meaningful role in the majors. Tibbs was flipped just six weeks after the Red Sox acquired him as one of four players in the package they netted from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers blockbuster. Ehrhard was a fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma State last year and had been promoted to Double-A Portland after a strong 31-game stretch at High-A Greenville.
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