It was bound to happen sooner or later. With the offseason slipping away, former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez has reportedly agreed to a contract with the Boston Red Sox. The fan favorite hit the open market at age 30 after spending his entire professional career with the Phillies.
The signing, which was first reported by Jon Heyman, sees Suárez get a five-year, $130 million contract with Boston as they fill out their starting rotation. The Phillies would have loved to have Suárez return in a perfect world, but after re-signing Kyle Schwarber in December there was no hope that they could also afford this kind of deal for what would have been a luxury (re)addition to the rotation.
Here's how the Phillies benefit from Ranger Suárez's huge contract with the Red Sox
While fans will be sad to see Suárez leave, the writing was already on the wall and his decision actually helps the Phillies. Not only is the southpaw taking his talents out of the NL East, he's moving over to the American League, essentially taking the Red Sox out of the Bo Bichette sweepstakes, at least one would think.
Just last week, the rival New York Mets were connected to Suárez. Seeing him sign in New York would have been an absolute nightmare scenario and possibly the worst outcome the Phillies could have imagined. We can all breathe a little easier now knowing that Suárez will be battling in the AL East instead of facing the Phillies multiple times per season as a Met.
After the Red Sox lost out on Alex Bregman, who opted to sign with the Chicago Cubs, many thought that Boston would go hard after Bichette. We know that he's now a top Phillies target and fans are getting excited (possibly to be disappointed) but excited nonetheless about the prospect of adding his bat to the lineup. With the Red Sox shelling out for Suárez's $26 million AAV, it's safe to assume that they'll be less inclined to make another giant splash on Bichette.
In addition, the Phillies will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round of the 2026 MLB Draft thanks to Suárez rejecting their $22.025 million qualifying offer earlier this offseason.
After debuting in 2018, Suárez appeared in 187 games (119 starts) with the Phillies, going 53-37 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Not known for velocity, instead relying on pinpoint command, Phillies fans watched him baffle opposing hitters for years.
While he has had trouble staying healthy for a full season (he set a career high with 157 1/3 innings last year), the cool, calm, and collected lefty showed up for the Phillies when it mattered most. He has one of the lowest career postseason ERAs (1.48) in MLB history among pitchers with at least 40 playoff innings.