{"id":525611,"date":"2026-01-17T21:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/525611\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T21:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T21:54:31","slug":"mlb-analyst-feels-red-sox-set-up-so-well-after-ranger-suarez-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/525611\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Analyst Feels Red Sox &#8216;Set Up So Well&#8217; After Ranger Su\u00e1rez Signing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Boston Red Sox entered MLB\u2019s free-agent frenzy by <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2026\/01\/red-sox-sign-ranger-suarez-in-free-agency-contract-details\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly signing<\/a> Ranger Su\u00e1rez to a five-year, $130 million deal. One former player believes they made a wise move.<\/p>\n<p>MLB analyst Kevin Frandsen, a former utility man, said Wednesday on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MLBNetworkRadio\/status\/2011526448239059065\" rel=\"nofollow\">MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM<\/a> that the Red Sox are in a great spot after landing Su\u00e1rez.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like they are set up so well,\u201d Frandsen said. \u201cMaybe I\u2019m in the minority on this one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frandsen thinks the Red Sox pivoted perfectly after Alex Bregman <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2026\/01\/cubs-officially-announce-alex-bregman-signing-social-media\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">left<\/a> for the Chicago Cubs. He can see the left-handed starting pitcher benefiting Boston more than the departing All-Star third baseman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThem not landing Bregman but landing Su\u00e1rez might have been a better fit, for me personally,\u201d Frandsen said. \u201cBecause I feel like to withstand the AL East, you got to be able to pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Some observers may wonder what the Su\u00e1rez signing means for Payton Tolle and Connelly Early. The promising pitching prospects face an uphill climb to making a <a href=\"https:\/\/nesn.com\/2026\/01\/red-sox-get-bold-prediction-on-rotation-after-reportedly-signing-ranger-suarez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">loaded rotation <\/a>that can feature Su\u00e1rez, Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo.<\/p>\n<p>However, Frandsen likes the fact that Boston won\u2019t need the young southpaws early in the 2026 season. The Red Sox can instead monitor their innings so they\u2019re ready to impact a potential playoff run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t have to make 32 starts in the big leagues,\u201d Frandsen said. \u201cThat\u2019s not the goal. The goal is to get them to the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frandsen called Su\u00e1rez \u201cone of the coolest guys I\u2019ve ever been around\u201d and suggested that his $26 million average annual salary is actually a bargain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to sit there and say that it\u2019s a huge steal,\u201d he said, \u201cbut it kind of feels like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"nesn-in-content-ad__copy\">Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boston Red Sox entered MLB\u2019s free-agent frenzy by reportedly signing Ranger Su\u00e1rez to a five-year, $130 million&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,2328,2304,4,2305,2303,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-525611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-playoffs","13":"tag-mlb-postseason","14":"tag-ranger-suarez"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115912668781941256","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}