This offseason has dragged on long enough! Fans are eagerly awaiting spring training’s first pitches of the year and a return to action of the game we love. The winter has experienced a tense slow walk in which star players like Kyle Tucker, Pete Alonso, and unfortunately, Alex Bregman all waited deep into the offseason to make their decisions.
The Red Sox have been almost hyper-active in the winter shuffle, albeit while focusing intensely on the trade market rather than free agent signings. Even after losing Bregman to a seemingly trivial unwillingness to go just a bit further, the Sox have added some striking new names to the roster’s pitching corps in particular. The group may just enter the season with a better outlook than the 2025 version that broke through into the postseason for the first time in years.
Some external pressures look to derail that hopeful progress, however. Framber Valdez was another holdout on the hunt for a big payday. He had been linked to both the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, which would have spelled disaster for the Red Sox.
Instead, Valdez signed a $115 million, three year pact with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Jeff Passan reported that it’s the highest AAV ever doled out to a lefty. Boston should always have been out on Valdez, considering his dismal second half in 2025 and the temper tantrum he seemingly threw right on the mound in early September.
BREAKING: Star left-hander Framber Valdez and the Detroit Tigers are in agreement on a three-year, $115 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Valdez, 32, gets the highest AAV ever for a left-handed pitcher as well as the highest for a Latin American pitcher. Huge move for Detroit.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2026
Framber Valdez landing with Tigers creates yet another obstacle for the Red Sox, but it's not the worst-case scenario
An American League foe with high caliber pitching is never a welcome sight. Detroit already employs the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal on its staff, and adding Valdez shores up a rotation that spent much of last year running guys out behind Skubal on a wing and a prayer. If, by some miracle (for Detroit), the team is able to come to terms with Skubal on an extension before next winter, the Tigers will instantly pose a dynamic and unavoidable threat to every other AL team with deep postseason aspirations.
Two imposing starters on the roster threatens to slam the door shut on even the most productive offense in a short series. Unfortunately, Boston lacked home run power heading into October last year and that pop has not materialized this offseason, so the task becomes even more daunting for a team almost certainly poised to roll out a small-ball squad this spring.
Valdez’s signing also delivers insurance to Detroit when Skubal inevitably slips away to chase a blockbuster deal next winter. It’s signed a ferocious hurler ready to make a big impact alongside the ace this year in preparation of stepping into those shoes for the remaining two years of his deal. Even though Valdez won’t be on a roster that plays the Sox 13 times next season (as he would have been had he signed with Toronto or Baltimore), Boston will still likely face him twice since the pair will play seven games in 2026 before any potential meeting in October is set.