Red Sox sign another NL star to interrupt Guardians' 2026 postseason path

Things sure can change quickly in MLB free agency — just ask the Boston Red Sox. 

After losing out on Alex Bregman over the weekend, the Red Sox made a surprising pivot on Wednesday by signing starting pitcher Ranger Suárez on a five-year, $130-million contract, per multiple reports. 

Even though the move doesn’t carry as much weight for the Guardians as if he signed with the Tigers, for example, having Suárez in the American League will make things tougher for Cleveland in October, should they get there. 

Ranger Suárez and the Red Sox just threw a wrench in the Guardians’ postseason plans 

It may be hard to believe given the amount of trades the Red Sox have made this offseason, but Suárez is their first free agency signing this offseason, and he’s quite a splashy one, especially given we’re less than a month away from the start of spring training. 

Suárez was arguably the best remaining free agent starter (alongside Framber Valdez) and has posted a 3.59 ERA over his last 104 starts since becoming a full-time starter in 2022. He was an All-Star in 2024, and is coming off a season where he had a sparkling 3.20 ERA in 157 1/3 innings. 

When it comes to the Guardians, Suárez’s signing falls into the same bucket as Pete Alonso and Dylan Cease’s: There was never a chance they were going to end up in Cleveland, but it’s still frustrating to see them move into the American League after spending 2025 in the NL.

Although the Guardians’ starting rotation posted the best ERA in baseball over the final month of the 2025 season, Boston’s rotation of Garrett Crochet, Suárez, Sonny Gray, Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo is a strong rival to theirs (at least on paper). 

Even though you could argue that a Guardians rotation led by Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo and others has more upside than Boston’s rotation, the Red Sox now have three All-Star-caliber starters in theirs. 

The good news for the Guardians is that they’ll only face off against the Red Sox in six games in the regular season and would only need to face them in the postseason if they’re able to make it out of the suddenly stacked American League East. 

Luckily those kinds of splash moves have been few and far between in the American League Central (Guardians included). Even if Cleveland’s front office was smart to address the depleted bullpen this offseason, it still doesn’t remove the frustration from the team’s lack of offensive additions.

While the rest of the American League has gotten better around the American League Central, the Guardians, Tigers and Twins seem content to run it back with a majority of the same core they had in 2025.