Report: Red Sox make first free agency splash, add elite NL starter Suárez
The Boston Red Sox ended their run as the only team without a dollar spent in free agency Wednesday, and did so with a big, long-term, lucrative bang.
According to several reports, the Red Sox are signing left-handed starter Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130 million contract. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the contract does not include deferrals or opt-outs.
Suarez, who turned 30 on Aug. 26, has spent his entire eight-year major league career with the Philadelphia Phillies, including an All-Star ’24 season. He owns a career 3.38 ERA over 187 games, with 705 strikeouts and 240 walks over 762 innings.
Since transitioning into a full-time starter role late in the ’21 season, Suárez owns a 3.39 ERA over 116 starts, including a pair of complete-game shutouts.
Suárez is coming off a 26-start, 3.20 ERA season in which he tossed career-high 157.1 innings. He ranked in the 84th MLB percentile or better in several key metrics last year, including Pitching Run Value, Breaking Run Value, Offspeed Run Value, expected ERA (xERA), Average Exit Velocity, walk rate (BB%), Barrel %, and Hard-Hit %.
Suárez is Boston’s first free-agent signing longer than three years since the Red Sox named Craig Breslow chief baseball officer in November ’23. He joins a Red Sox starting rotation led by ace, and fellow southpaw, Garrett Crochet.
