Left-hander Ranger Suárez and the Boston Red Sox agreed Wednesday to a $130 million, five-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.
An All-Star in 2024, Suárez had spent his entire professional career with the Philadelphia Phillies after signing at age 16 in April 2012. The 30-year-old from Venezuela pitched out of the bullpen early on but has been a steady performer and mostly a reliable winner since moving into the rotation exclusively in 2022.
The deal is the first for a major league free agent for the Red Sox this season. It comes days after they were outbid for Alex Bregman by the Chicago Cubs, who gave the incumbent Boston third baseman a five-year, $175 million deal with a no-trade clause that the Red Sox wouldn’t offer.
Instead, Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow bolstered the pitching staff with a lefty who doesn’t throw hard but limits home runs and keeps batters off balance by changing speeds and hitting the corners.
Suárez was 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA last season in 26 starts covering a career-high 157 1/3 innings, then became a free agent for the first time and turned down a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia in November.
His calling card is consistency. Suárez went 8-5 with a 1.36 ERA and four saves in 12 starts and 27 relief outings in 2021. He finished 10-7 with a 3.65 ERA over 29 starts and 155 1/3 innings the following season, then fell off to 4-6 with a 4.18 ERA across 22 starts in 2023, when he landed on the injured list for a left elbow strain and later for a right hamstring strain. But he bounced right back the next year, going 12-8 with a 3.46 ERA in 27 starts and 150 2/3 innings.
During that stretch, he was a big reason the Phillies made four straight playoff appearances from 2022-25, winning one National League pennant and back-to-back NL East titles the past two years.
Suárez has been outstanding on the mound in postseason play, too, going 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA and one save in eight starts and three relief appearances totaling 42 2/3 innings.
Overall in eight regular seasons in the majors, he is 53-37 with a 3.38 ERA, two shutouts and four saves in 187 games, including 119 starts. He has struck out 705 batters and walked 240 in 762 innings.
Back trouble has been an issue occasionally. Three times in the past four seasons Suárez spent time on the IL for lower back spasms, soreness or stiffness.
He joins a rotation projected to include left-hander Garrett Crochet, right-handers Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello and perhaps rookie Payton Tolle or Connelly Early.
Because Suárez turned down the qualifying offer, the Phillies get an additional draft pick after the fourth round of the amateur draft this July as compensation.
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AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.
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