Red Sox Insider Has Embarrassing Report On Boston's Joe Ryan Pursuit

The Boston Red Sox had a deeply underwhelming trade deadline haul.

For all the talk of aggressive buying, the Red Sox came away from the deadline with just two pitchers, both rentals, in Steven Matz and Dustin May. Perhaps they can both be of service, but compared to some of the moves made by Boston's rivals, that hardly moves the needle.

As the afternoon went along on Thursday, Red Sox fans palpably began to get their hopes up for Minnesota Twins All-Star Dustin May. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that the Red Sox were making "a late effort" for the right-hander, who would have been the prize of the deadline had he been dealt.

As 6 p.m. ET came and went, it was clear that no deal was going to be reached, though two outlets, FOX Sports MLB and Yahoo Sports, mistakenly posted on social media that it had happened based on Morosi's report.

Then, Chris Cotillo of MassLive posted that not only had the Red Sox failed to land Ryan, but that their offer wasn't even in the ballpark of what the Twins were seeking.

"Source on Red Sox' pursuit of Joe Ryan: 'Not even close.'" Cotillo wrote.

Cotillo's report was met with some skepticism, as Jared Carrabis of Underdog Fantasy tweeted that it "felt like that thing was on the five-yard line."

Frankly, it doesn't matter how close the Red Sox came to landing their white whale. No deal means no deal, and Boston now walks away from a chance to meaningfully improve their roster in other ways with almost nothing to show for it.

May should help the situation to some degree, but this rotation, which has been uncertain beyond the top three starters for the past two months, is now going to have to rely on Walker Buehler and potentially minor leaguers Kyle Harrison and Richard Fitts to get through the rest of the season.

Maybe talks for Ryan will be revisited in the offseason, but even if they are, it's hard not to call Thursday a major missed opportunity for Boston.