Red Sox to sign Ranger Suárez, pivoting to rotation upgrade after losing Alex Bregman: Sources
Days after failing to retain their top target in Alex Bregman, the Boston Red Sox pivoted by bolstering their rotation with a five-year contract to lefty starter Ranger Suárez, sources confirmed to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal Wednesday.
Only seven qualified starters last season featured a fastball with an average velocity lower than Suárez’s, but the crafty lefty secured a $130 million deal that will serve as a referendum on results over stuff in a modern game obsessed with velocity.
Suárez, the ninth-ranked free agent on The Athletic’s Big Board, was projected by Tim Britton to net a contract worth $153 million over six years.
Following Bregman’s signing with the Cubs, sources indicated the Red Sox were pivoting from adding a big bat to focusing on a top-end starter, the idea being they would double down on run prevention. He is the latest addition to the Boston rotation, which added Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo and Jake Bennett via trades earlier this offseason.
Suárez will slot behind Garrett Crochet at the top of the rotation, making a formidable 1-2 punch followed by Gray and Brayan Bello. The fifth starter spot remains up for grabs with a slew of options including Kutter Crawford, Patrick Sandoval and Oviedo as well as rookies Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.
Debuting with the Phillies in 2018, Suárez has never made 30 starts in a season. His fastball velocity dipped almost 3 mph on average from 2023 (92.8 mph) to 2025 (90.1 mph). But few pitchers in the sport are as adept at generating soft contact as the 30-year-old. His kitchen-sink arsenal has made him effective against lefty and righty hitters alike.
His profile is one that the Red Sox are betting will age well.
Suárez, who had spent his entire career with the Philadelphia Phillies, stood out in a thin starting-pitching market this winter because he has defied trends and succeeded with a throwback approach. He can throw five different pitches to righties. He’ll feature four or five against lefties. He can cut it, sink it, and lean on whatever breaking pitch feels best. He used a changeup more often in 2025 than ever before, and it was a real weapon against righties. His 3.20 ERA in 157 1/3 innings last season was his best as a full-time starter.
Still, Suárez was unlikely to attract the interest of some front offices that rely upon stuff models. The Phillies trusted Suárez because he exuded calm in stressful situations — just watch him field a comebacker — but they did not commit to a multiyear contract for one of their finest international acquisitions. (The son of a Venezuelan farmer, Suárez signed as a teenager for $25,000.) He will always be remembered in Philadelphia for recording two outs on two pitches as a reliever to seal the National League pennant in 2022.
He followed that with two important outs in Game 1 of the World Series, then five scoreless innings in Game 3. Those were the only two games the Phillies won in that series.
One reason Suárez enticed numerous contenders as a free agent: He is best when it matters most. Suárez’s 1.48 ERA in the postseason (42 2/3 innings) ranks among the best since Major League Baseball expanded its playoff format in 1995. Only Mariano Rivera (0.70 ERA in 141 innings) and Stephen Strasburg (1.46 ERA in 55 1/3 innings) have better marks with as many innings pitched.
That requires attributes that stuff models won’t always capture.
Suárez showed he could thrive with diminished stuff in 2025. How his new contract ages will depend on the lefty’s ability to maintain the pristine command he showcased in 2025, when he posted a career-best 5.8 percent walk rate. He does not surrender home runs; his rate has been steady for four consecutive seasons.
The Phillies made Suárez a qualifying offer, which he declined, so they will receive a compensatory pick in the 2026 MLB amateur draft. That pick will be between the fourth and fifth rounds. That is a consolation for losing Suárez, but it won’t make it any less difficult to contemplate life after Suárez, who spent 14 seasons in the Phillies organization.
The Red Sox had been the lone team in the majors not to sign a free agent this offseason, but now that’s changed. Though there’s still time to add a bat either through trade or free agency, the Red Sox may also head into the season with their existing lineup (with Willson Contreras as their only offensive addition) and seek to add a bigger bat in-season via trade. With so much pitching depth, there is also the possibility of packaging a starter to trade for an infield bat.
