Red Sox Won Last-Second Battle for All-Star Ranger Suárez

As details have come out about the Boston Red Sox's five-year deal with Ranger Suárez, they have looked even better for the organization.

Suárez is a one-time All-Star and he was even better in 2025 than he was when he earned the nod in 2024. The lefty logged a 3.20 ERA in 26 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2025. On top of this, what makes Suárez stand out is the fact that he has a 1.48 career ERA in the playoffs across 11 appearances.

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Clearly Boston likes him. The Red Sox inked Suárez to a five-year, $130 million deal, the longest free agent deal in the Craig Breslow era. The Red Sox had competition for his services as well. Alex Speier of The Boston Globe noted that the Red Sox beat out the Baltimore Orioles for his services. Speier reported that the Orioles had a "realistic path to a deal" with Suárez before the Red Sox lost Alex Bregman turned up their pursuit of Suárez. Speier also quoted Suárez's agent, Scott Boras, who noted that there were four teams "really involved seriously" with Suárez.

The Red Sox won the sweepstakes

Sep 27, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez (55) throws a pitch against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

"If the Sox wanted Suárez, they didn’t have time to waste after Bregman’s decision," Speier wrote. "'We had four teams that were really involved seriously with Ranger, and we were in the process of maybe the second and third rounds of exchanges. The Red Sox really had to play a bit of catch-up in the negotiation part,' said Boras. 'The accelerant was the other teams. We let [the Red Sox] know, ‘Hey, this is moving.’ The other teams’ movement made us say, ‘If you’re going to be involved — you said you want to be involved — you better be involved now.'

"According to an industry source, the Orioles had been the most aggressive team in the bidding for Suárez, with a realistic path to a deal last week should the Sox not dive in. But the Sox dove."

This is a bit of sweet revenge for Boston. The Red Sox were heavily involved in the Pete Alonso sweepstakes earlier in the offseason but lost as the Orioles swooped in and got a long-term deal done. Now, the Red Sox landed a guy the Orioles wanted.

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