The Boston Red Sox whiffed on reuniting with Alex Bregman after he signed with the Chicago Cubs on January 10. But they don't have time to wallow in their losses — they still have plenty of work to do before their offseason matches up with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles' improvements from earlier this winter.
Instead of solely pivoting to signing Bo Bichette (a battle Boston will surely lose), it's reexamining the starting pitching market to reinforce its run prevention capabilities. The Red Sox signed longtime Philadelphia Phillies lefty starter Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million deal to accomplish just that for the foreseeable future.
Before he made his play for Suárez, Craig Breslow may have misdirected potential suitors. According to Rob Bradford of WEEI on January 14, sources from outside the Red Sox organization said that they've been "aggressive in pursuing top-level controllable starting pitching" on the trade market, including pitchers of the No. 1-2 starter caliber. Shortly after, the Sox signed the No. 2 starter they've been looking for all offseason rather than trading for another arm.
The Sox have been named as fits for plenty of pitchers on the trade market this offseason, such as Freddy Peralta, MacKenzie Gore, Joe Ryan and even Tarik Skubal. Despite the many trades they had already made, Sonny Gray or Johan Oviedo hardly qualify as the No. 2 starter Breslow claimed to be looking for, so another trade didn't seem completely out of the question.
Red Sox may have distracted Ranger Suárez suitors with trade market rumor hours before signing
Hearing from sources outside Boston the Red Sox are getting aggressive in pursuing top-level controllable starting pitching in the trade market. Names floated as targets are no doubt No. 1 or 2.
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) January 14, 2026
But Boston has already made so many trades this offseason (10, to be exact) that there was no need for them to deplete their pool of young pitching talent any further if Suárez was available. Before signing Suárez, the Red Sox hadn't spent a penny on major league free agents. John Henry and Fenway Sports Group's stream of money is endless — Boston's pool of prospect talent is not.
The Suárez signing may have opened the door for another trade, however. The Red Sox still have more major league starters than they need for the coming season and one could soon be on the move to add a bat to make up for losing Bregman. Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Kyle Harrison, Patrick Sandoval or a top prospect such as Connelly Early, Payton Tolle or David Sandlin could now be traded for a bat, since Suárez, Garett Crochet and Bello are under contract for the next four or five seasons.