BOSTON — Left-hander Ranger Suárez and the Boston Red Sox finalized their $130 million, five-year contract Wednesday.
Suárez gets a $3 million signing bonus, payable within 30 days of the deal’s approval by Major League Baseball, and salaries of $7 million this year, $15 million in 2027, $30 million in each of the following two seasons and $35 million in 2030. The deal includes a $35 million mutual option for 2031 with a $10 million buyout.
Also Wednesday, Boston traded infielder Tristan Gray to Minnesota for minor league catcher Nate Baez, opening a roster spot.
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 was the first for a major league free agent for the Red Sox this season and came after they were outbid for Alex Bregman by the Chicago Cubs, who gave the incumbent Boston third baseman a $175 million, five-year deal with a no-trade provision the Red Sox wouldn’t offer.
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. Because he turned down a $22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia in November, Boston gives up its second- and fifth-highest selections in July’s amateur draft and forfeits $1 million in international signing bonus allocation in 2027.
Philadelphia gets an extra pick after the fourth round of the draft as compensation.
Suárez was 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 155⅓ 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 150⅔ innings.
Suárez spent time on the IL for lower back spasms, soreness or stiffness three times in the past four seasons.
Gray, 29, hit .231 with three homers and nine RBIs in 30 games for Tampa Bay last year and was acquired by Boston in November. Baez, 24, hit .278 with eight homers and 54 RBIs last year for High-A Cedar Rapids and Double-A Wichita.
