It remains to be seen if the Los Angeles Dodgers will use him as trade bait, but River Ryan is one of their most exciting prospects. He’s been mentioned as a player who could get traded in a deal for Tarik Skubal, but the Dodgers don’t seem too eager to do that.
A recent roster move may indicate that the team plans to keep the young pitcher around. According to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya, the Dodgers have signed pitcher Ryder Ryan to a minor league contract.
Ryan is the older brother of River Ryan. He has previously played for the Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates, but didn’t throw a pitch in the majors in 2025. He’s already 30 and has limited MLB experience, but he’s another arm to have around.
Andrew Friedman High on Dodgers’ Rotation
The biggest problem facing the Ryan brothers is that the Dodgers simply might not need much of their help this season. The team might have the best pitching rotation in all of baseball.
The biggest weakness was at closer, and then they signed Edwin Diaz, who is arguably the best closer in the NL. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is very excited to see what the pitching rotation does this season.
“(This) is definitely the best starting rotation I’ve ever been around, and the deepest,” Friedman said on the “Dodgers Territory” podcast. “It’s also the deepest and best collection of arms I’ve ever been around.”
“As we got into the offseason and kind of assessing where we’re at, what we’re looking for, it really kind of solidified and set in of just how special this group of arms is,” he continued. “We shouldn’t take it for granted. It’s not a common (or) easy thing to reproduce.”
Friedman Talks Roki Sasaki
Another reason to be excited about the pitching rotation is Roki Sasaki. He struggled his first year facing MLB batters, but he started to hit his stride in the playoffs.
Friedman believes adding a third pitch will unlock Sasaki’s game.
“He was able to dominate in the NPB with those two pitches, and frankly, I think he could here as well with being able to execute his pitches at a higher level,” Friedman said. “Last year, just delivery was out of whack, velocity was down a little bit, ability to execute was off a little bit. So it’s either adding that third pitch or elevating the pitch-making ability.”
The Dodgers knew that it was going to take time with Sasaki. He’s only 24 and had to play in a lot of high-leverage situations. Friedman believes that the potential is sky high with the young pitcher, but the team is going to have to be patient.
“We’re playing the long game with Roki,” Friedman said. “But I feel like we got to a place of a lot more trust, and that comes from building a relationship. We couldn’t be more bullish on what he’s capable of. He is an extremely talented pitching prospect, and sometimes it takes those guys a little bit of time to put things together”
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