In a shocking and surprising move, the Boston Red Sox have come to terms with free agent starting pitcher Ranger Suarez. 

Jon Heyman of the New York Post had the initial news on social media. Additional reports indicate that the deal is for five years and $130 million. 

Now 30 years old, Suarez is an eight-year veteran of the Philadelphia Phillies. He is 53-37 for his career with a 3.38 ERA. One of the top lefties in the league, he helped the Phillies reach the World Series in 2022 and earned an All-Star Game appearance in 2024. He went 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA for Philadelphia in 2025.

After losing Alex Bregman in free agency, the assumption by some fans was that the Red Sox would never sign another free agent again. In fact, Suarez is the first big-league free agent Boston has signed this offseason.

It also deviates from the prior strategy from the Red Sox. It was always an assumption that Boston would work to acquire another bat. Instead, they've doubled down on pitching and run prevention.

With the addition of Suarez, the Red Sox have one of the best starting rotations in baseball, if not the best. Garrett Crochet and Suarez will make up the 1-2 in the rotation, while Brayan Bello and Sonny Gray will mix in at 3-4. Johan Oviedo figures to check in as the No. 5, though Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford could factor in over the course of the 2026 campaign.

With this rotation, the Red Sox are capable of matching up with any lineup in a playoff series. The question will be if they can hit enough to support the staff. They'll be counting on big development years from Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony, and they are also banking on Trevor Story staying healthy again in the new year.

Boston still has an outfield glut with Jarren Duran, Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu. They could still look to move one of them, but they also have Masataka Yoshida causing issues for them at designated hitter. There's still some untangling that needs to be done before the start of the season, which is March 26.

And with the excess of Tolle, Early and Crawford, could the Red Sox also look to offload a pitcher? It remains to be seen.

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