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Red Sox sign free agent LHP Ranger Surarez to five-year, $130 million deal
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- Red Sox sign free agent LHP Ranger Surarez to five-year, $130 million deal
The Red Sox have signed their first free agent to a major league contract, multiple industry sources confirmed Wednesday, and it’s a major splash on the pitching market.
Boston agreed to sign former Phillies starter Ranger Suárez on Wednesday, five-year, $130 million contract. It’s the longest free-agent contract the Red Sox have signed since Trevor Story in 2022 and the biggest free-agent deal given out by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow in three seasons.
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Suárez’s contract is worth $26 million in terms of AAV (annual average value), making him the second-highest paid starter on the Red Sox’ roster behind Garrett Crochet , whose six-year $170 million deal, signed last April, is worth an AAV of $28.33 million. His contract, according to major league sources, is a rather straightforward agreement with no opt-outs or deferrals. It doesn’t include a no-trade clause. Based on AAV, Suárez is now the second highest-paid player on the team, behind Crochet. Third is Story with an AAV or $23.33 million.
The addition of Suárez is the third rotation move this winter for the Red Sox, who also traded for Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo early in the offseason. It comes just four days after the club lost out on Alex Bregman , who signed a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs after one season in Boston. While the Red Sox could still use a big bat after acquiring Willson Contreras and losing out on Bregman, industry sources indicated that after the Bregman news, a creative pivot to pitching was possible . That materialized with the decision to commit to Suárez, one of the top free agent starters available in a class he headlined alongside Framber Valdez , Zac Gallen and Dylan Cease.
Suárez, 30, has spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Phillies. In 2025, the left-handed pitcher went 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA, 1.220 WHIP and 151 strikeouts in 157⅓ innings. He also has a reputation as a top postseason performer. In 11 post-season appearances and eight starts in his career, Suárez is 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA.
Suárez is not a hard-thrower, as evidenced by the average velocity on his fastball (90.5 mph) ranking among the slowest in baseball. But he is one of the best in the game when it comes to pitchability and limits hard contact unlike virtually anyone in the game. In 2025, Suárez’s 31.1% hard-hit percentage put him in the 98th percentile among MLB pitchers.
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Suárez joins a crowded Red Sox rotation that includes Crochet at the top, followed by Gray, Brayan Bello and Oviedo. The Red Sox have several depth options, including veterans Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval , who both missed 2025 due to injuries, and young lefties Payton Tolle , Connelly Early and Kyle Harrison . The Suárez addition would seem to increase the odds of Breslow moving a young arm for a position player addition, even after including young starters Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins in separate deals with St. Louis for Gray and Contreras.
Suárez’s deal is the second-largest pact given to a free agent starter this winter, trailing only Cease’s seven-year, $210 million agreement with Toronto . The Red Sox are now estimated to have committed nearly $269 million in payroll for 2026, which would exceed the second competitive balance tax (CBT) threshold of $264 million. Further moves to decrease that number could be in the cards with players like Masataka Yoshida ($18 million), Jordan Hick ($12 million) and Sandoval ($9.125 million) commanding sizable salaries while not having clear roles on the team. Boston could also look to deal from its outfield surplus to address other areas of the roster.
The Red Sox will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Suárez when his deal is eventually official. Boston will also have to concede draft pick compensation to sign Suárez, who declined a qualifying offer from Philadelphia . Boston will lost its second and fifth-highest selections in July’s draft, as well as $1 million from its international bonus pool.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report the agreement.
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