Fans may not remember that the Minnesota Twins were nearly part of the 2020 trade that sent future Hall-of-Famer Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Originally, the Twins were going to send reliever Brusdar Graterol to the Red Sox as part of the deal, but Boston backed out after seeing his medical records. Instead, the Twins sparked a separate agreement with the Dodgers, sending them Graterol, outfielder Luke Raley and the 67th pick in the 2020 Draft in exchange for right-handed pitcher Kenta Maeda, catcher Jair Camargo and cash. Meanwhile, the Red Sox sent left-handed pitcher David Price and cash, along with Betts, to the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo, shortstop Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong.
MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince referenced the Betts trade and the fact that the Twins were almost part of it in one of his trade proposals in his recent article titled "7 ridiculous trades we’d like to see." For reference, Castrovince acknowledged that the trades in the article are extremely unlikely to happen.
MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince proposes three-way Joe Ryan trade involving Red Sox, Dodgers
4) Call it a mini (Minny?) Mookie trade
Dodgers get: OF Jarren Duran
Red Sox get: RHP Joe Ryan
Twins get: OF Zyhir Hope (Dodgers’ No. 2 prospect), LHP Jackson Ferris (Dodgers’ No. 6 prospect), 3B Chase Harlan (Dodgers’ No. 18 prospect), RHP Marcus Phillips (Red Sox’s No. 11 prospect)
This hypothetical trade is even more unlikely now that the Red Sox have acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray and likely view him as their No. 2 starter behind Garrett Crochet. However, it's still possible that Boston is interested in further strengthening its rotation.
Duran is an outstanding player, but the Red Sox have plenty of outfielders. So, only losing Duran and their No. 11 prospect to acquire an ace-level pitcher is likely worth it. As for the Dodgers, filling their vacant outfield spot while deducting from a robust farm system would likely benefit the team in the near term.
For the Twins, the team would receive a substantial haul of prospects in the deal. Hope and Ferris rank among MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects, and Harlan and Phillips are good players to round out the package. To approve a Joe Ryan trade, however, the Twins would probably want an established major leaguer leading the return package.