BOSTON — Agent Scott Boras knew that client Ranger Suárez had interest in signing with the Red Sox even before Boston contacted them during free agency.
“Ranger had informed us that when he was young and in Venezuela that his first really remembrances of his childhood was watching the Red Sox and the Yankees,” Boras said at Suárez’s introductory press conference at Fenway Park on Wednesday. “He had told me that, ‘My friends rooted for the Yankees, but I always rooted for the Red Sox.’ So I knew that there was always an interest, an organic interest that he had here. And sure enough, Bres (chief baseball officer Craig Breslow) and the staff called us.”
Suárez signed a five-year, $130 million contract that includes a $3 million signing bonus. The deal is backloaded with him receiving $7 million in 2026, $15 million in 2027, $30 million in both 2028 and 2029 and $35 million in 2030. There’s a $35 million mutual option and $10 million buyout for 2031.
“Since I was a little kid, when we would watch baseball on TV, what would be on was Red Sox-Yankees,” Suárez said through translator Daveson Perez. “And everyone was going for the Yankees. And I asked, ‘Why is no one going (rooting) for Boston?’ And that’s where the interest started.”
Suárez said he always appreciated hearing about the franchise’s history.
“To pitch on the same mound that Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Babe Ruth threw off of, you get that energy from that experience,” Suárez said. “And it’s just something that motivates you to want to give your little grain of sand into what is a bigger history.”
Suárez’s pitchability attracted the Red Sox. His average four-seam fastball and sinker velocities have dipped in recent years. His four-seamer averaged 91.3 mph in 2025, down from 93.4 mph in 2023. His sinker averaged 90.1 mph last year, down from 92.8 mph in 2023. But he was a better pitcher in 2025 (3.20 ERA in 26 starts) than in 2023 (4.18 ERA in 22 starts).
Breslow said two things became clear when the Red Sox asked around the industry about Suárez.
“One was just the sheer talent. A number of people said that Ranger was the type of guy who could roll out of bed and throw a bullpen and not miss a single spot,” Breslow said. “And I think our industry has moved away from that type of pitchability and guile. But as we’ve seen over the last six years, there’s definitely still a place for a pitcher who doesn’t issue free passes and can manage hard contact. And the second thing that stood out was this big sense of humor that people talked about. And so we’re looking forward to (his) personality really surfacing.”