Red Sox sign former Phillies lefty to huge $130 million, five-year deal

Matt Sullivan

•
Red Sox sign former Phillies lefty to huge $130 million, five-year deal image

The Boston Red Sox lost Alex Bregman to the Chicago Cubs this offseason and, in turn, needed to find a suitable replacement.

While they could explore Bo Bichette or other top-of-the-market free agent or trade options, the Red Sox could instead go after a top free-agent pitcher and spend a smaller amount on another infielder.

That is indeed what they did.

According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Red Sox have signed free-agent former Philadelphia Phillies lefty pitcher Ranger Suarez to a huge five-year, $130 million deal.

Red Sox sign ex-Phillies lefty to $130M deal

"Ranger Suarez gets $130 million over 5 years," Nightengale announced.

It's a big contract for Suarez, the left-handed veteran who's spent his entire professional career with the Phillies.

The Phillies got a lot of great years out of Suarez, as the beloved left-hander had an All-Star nod and, most impressively, a 1.48 ERA in the postseason across 11 games, eight starts and 42.2 innings pitched.

This past season, Suarez had a 3.20 ERA for the Phillies in 27 starts and was one of their better pitchers to close out the season.

The Red Sox missed out on Bregman and are signing Suarez instead with the money left over from their offer to the All-Star third baseman.

Suarez will now make $26 million per year with the Red Sox.

MORE: Red Sox linked to frustrating Alex Bregman replacements after Cubs deal

Their new-look rotation is an impressive one, as Suarez joins Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Bryan Bello and Johan Oviedo atop the team's rotation.

Boston will have some work to do this winter with its rotation, as it now holds some incredible depth that could be used in trades.

But Suarez coming to Boston is a nice move, which would've felt a lot better if it didn't come in the wake of the team losing Bregman to the Cubs.

More MLB news:

News Correspondent