FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It was a winter unlike any other for a lot of people around the Twins organization, but especially for Joe Ryan.
The 2025 All-Star pitcher endured trade rumors in the fall, went to the cusp of an arbitration hearing later in the winter, and in between welcomed his first child, a son named Rowan. Ryan did all of this while getting ready to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, and against the backdrop of major changes to the team’s brain trust.
The good news for Ryan is that family responsibilities helped keep him from dwelling too much on what was going on around him in the baseball world.
“I was so focused on having the baby,” said Ryan. “I saw articles and different things coming out about [trade rumors]. It was interesting thinking about it, but … until [a trade] happens, you can't get worked up about anything.”
Still, it’s not like he was completely unaware. Ryan, you may recall, thought for a while that he had been dealt at the Trade Deadline last year. His name swirled in rumors again early in the offseason until Minnesota's brass made it clear the club intended to hold on to him as well as Pablo López and Byron Buxton.
Plus there was the firing of manager Rocco Baldelli, the transition to Tom Pohlad as the Twins’ new primary owner, and the recent departure of top baseball executive Derek Falvey. Through it all, Ryan said he’s happy still to be a Twin.
“I'm really happy to be here and with the other guys they kept around,” Ryan said. “I think if they started shipping off more guys it would have been a little bit harder. But we've got Buck and Pablo here, Bailey [Ober] here and [Ryan] Jeffers is here -- the guys that have been here since I got here still. There's a few of us left. I think the young guys are great and a lot of guys to build around and we'll be in a good spot.”
One aspect of the offseason that did encroach a little bit more was the possibility of an arbitration hearing. Ryan’s previous agents were unable to come to terms on a deal with the Twins prior to the exchange of arbitration figures, and he was on his way to the airport to attend a hearing when an agreement was reached on a 2026 contract with a mutual option for 2027. Though he certainly wasn’t looking forward to a hearing, he downplayed the notion of ill will toward the club as a result of the experience.
“I don’t really care about that,” Ryan said. “They’re going to say whatever they say. They’re trying to win, and that’s kind of their show.”
With that settled, Ryan is able to look forward to pitching for Team USA, and he’s more than eager. Ryan said that although he’ll need to be at game speed earlier than he might otherwise, he didn’t feel the changes to his offseason routine were anything drastic.
“It feels good,” Ryan said. “It just feels like I started a couple of weeks earlier. I kind of wanted to do that anyway, get off a mound and throw a little earlier anyway. It was kind of in the cards. It made sense. I feel like I've got off the mound the right amount of times and it felt good, but I feel a little bit more prepared even coming into camp. I'm not saying I'm going to ramp up as intensely maybe, but definitely ramp up a good amount going forward.”