Ranger Suárez signing with Red Sox: Boston adds frontline starting pitcher on five-year, $130 million deal
Suárez will join a pitching staff that includes Garrett Crochet and new addition Sonny Gray
The Boston Red Sox have landed one of the best starting pitchers on the free-agent market, as they've agreed to terms with left-hander Ranger Suárez on a five-year pact worth $130 million, CBS Sports HQ's Jim Bowden has confirmed. The deal has no deferrals, opt outs, or no-trade clause. The Red Sox haven't yet announced the signing. This marks the first major-league free-agent signing of the winter for Boston.
The 30-year-old Suárez is coming off a 2025 season for the Phillies in which he pitched to a 3.20 ERA with 151 strikeouts and 38 unintentional walks in 157 ⅓ innings. That was good for a WAR of 4.7. For his career, Suárez has an ERA+ of 125 and a WAR of 17.8 across parts of eight big-league seasons. He earned his first and to date only All-Star selection in 2024.
Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Suárez as the No. 10 free agent in the class of 2025-26. Here's part of that write-up:
According to Baseball Reference's calculations, Suárez's most similar pitcher through this stage of his career is Framber Valdez. Teams are likely to work through that juxtaposition whenever they consider the top of the pitching market. Suárez is more than a year younger than Valdez, and he operates with a broader arsenal, but Valdez has better stuff and a more robust track record of being an innings sponge. Even if Suárez is viewed by the market as a lesser Valdez, he should land a multi-year contract to serve in the middle of some club's rotation.
CBS Sports had also predicted that Suárez would sign a five-year pact worth $125 million -- or, almost exactly the deal he landed.
In Boston, Suárez will join a crowded rotation that notably already includes lefty Garrett Crochet and two offseason trade additions: right-handers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, as well as veterans Brayan Bello and Patrick Sandoval, and youngsters Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, and Kyle Harrison. It's to be seen if the Red Sox ship a few of those pitchers out to fill other needs before Opening Day.
Indeed, the Red Sox recently came up short in their attempt to retain infielder Alex Bregman and have since been connected to fellow infielder Bo Bichette. It's unclear if the Suárez signing will impact the Red Sox's pursuit of Bichette.
The Red Sox are coming off a 2025 season that saw them win 89 games before being eliminated by the New York Yankees in the wild-card round.
