Phillies' bizarre link to top free agent starter a slap in the face to Ranger Suárez

With pitchers and catchers mere weeks away from reporting for spring training, the Philadelphia Phillies have been mentioned in the same breath as one of the top free agent starting pitchers left on the market. Left-hander Framber Valdez is still looking for a new home for the 2026 season. Will it be Philadelphia?

In a Monday appearance on MLB Network's Hot Stove, insider Jon Morosi discussed Valdez's market. Valdez has previously been linked to the New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs. After mentioning the Orioles and Mets as teams still interested as possible landing spots, Morosi in a bizarre, not to mention confusing, twist, brought up the Phillies as a potential option.

"We have not heard a ton about the team that Ranger Suárez left as being a possible landing spot for Framber Valdez," Morosi said of the Phillies. "When you look at the Phillies' depth chart for pitching, there's a spot there where you could certainly see a veteran sliding in. So I would say, let's not close off the possibility of Framber to the Phillies quite yet either."

Linking Phillies to Framber Valdez doesn't make any sense after letting Ranger Suárez walk

If you're as confused as we are, raise your hand.

In case anyone has forgotten recent history, the Phillies let lefty starter Ranger Suárez walk in free agency because they couldn't afford to bring him back alongside Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. Well, technically they could afford to, they just opted not to push the boundaries of their self-imposed payroll limit.

Suárez found a nice five-year, $130 million payday with the Boston Red Sox. Phillies fans are happy for him and there certainly won't be any hard feelings. He'll get a hero's welcome when he returns to Citizens Bank Park.

So if we're keeping score for Morosi here, the Phillies didn't want to pay a fan-favorite, homegrown starter $25 million a year but will pay someone else $28-$33 million a year? What is happening?

To be fair, Valdez has been more durable than Suárez, throwing 767 2/3 innings in 121 starts for the Houston Astros since 2021. He has a 3.21 ERA over that time, with an even higher ground ball rate (60 percent) than Suárez (50.8 percent). But Valdez is also already 32, while Suárez is still 30.

Valdez comes with a qualifying offer penalty after he turned down the Astros' $22.025 million offer. That would cost the Phillies a couple of draft picks and $1 million in international bonus pool money. That's an extra cost the Phillies wouldn't have had to pay to re-sign Suárez.

And we haven't even mentioned the potential clubhouse issues Valdez could bring.

So, if the Phillies suddenly turned around and surprised literally everyone in the baseball world (except Morosi apparently) by signing Valdez to a nine-figure contract, it would be fair to imagine that would rub Suárez the wrong way. We wouldn't blame him, either; it would probably rub Phillies fans the wrong way as well.

Phillies fans would rather have just kept their guy.