Baseball Isn’t Boring
BIB on the Radio: The Red Sox Pivot From Alex Bregman To Ranger Suarez
15 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Why did Alex Bregman leave for the Cubs?
joining us right now on jones and keith the return of rob bradford baseball isn't boring and weei he's brought to you by mcfarlane energy the heating cooling and bio heat delivery pros that eastern mass and all of cape cod depend on mcfarlane energy.com what's up brad foe oh mcfarlane to you both it's so good to talk to you so good to talk so good to be back and i just want to get this out of the way i
take full responsibility for alex bregman not signing with the red sox because clearly i gave them a sense of overconfidence when i put them at 51 instead of 49 that was on you well thanks for doing that rob that's that's that takes a big man to admit when he's wrong so we appreciate that uh we'll get to bregman maybe in a moment but let's start with the signing yesterday that i was surprised by especially uh
Given a tweet you had earlier in the day, they were looking at controllable pitchers via maybe trade. And then out of nowhere, they signed Ranger Suarez. What are your thoughts on the deal?
Chapter 2: What was the Red Sox's strategy after missing out on Bregman?
Yeah, I think that once the Bregman thing didn't happen, it became pretty clear what their pivot was going to be, and it was going to be this run prevention. They were going to dive into the world of these top-of-the-rotation pitchers, which we thought they had left behind, put in the rearview mirror.
And as you said, I tweeted out, I had heard that they were being very aggressive to finding that guy. Now, they found that guy via free agency, but what that told me at the time was, when I tweeted that out, I said, listen, I mean, there is no room for interpretation.
they are going all in the names are being thrown around in terms of what they were actually potentially introducing in trades this wasn't just a three or four or five this was we are trying to get a controllable legit guy and they ultimately got that guy i think in ranger suarez now you can argue maybe he's a between a two and a three instead of between a one and a two
Chapter 3: Who is Ranger Suarez and what does he bring to the Red Sox?
But at the end of the day, this was absolutely their pivot. This was absolutely their strategy. And through all of the conversation, the fact of the matter is that they're better today than they were yesterday. And unfortunately, we're sitting in the middle of January still saying the offseason's incomplete.
Well, who were the names getting thrown around?
Chapter 4: What pitching options were the Red Sox considering before signing Suarez?
Just to circle back to what you heard yesterday. Who were the names getting thrown around?
You talk about all the pitching surplus that they have. The Bayos, the Peyton Doley's, the Conley Early's, the Kyle Harrison's, some of the relievers, David Sandlin. The best way I would say is introduce because everyone freaks out about, oh, they're offering up.
Chapter 5: How does Ranger Suarez compare to other pitchers in the league?
They're introduced. And then, of course, you have potentially Jaron Duran in the mix. So I think that my point is that... they undeniably were investigating or looking into finding that guy, finding the next guy.
And I think that ultimately when you get Ranger Suarez, when that was the answer, when that ultimately was the pivot, I think they just probably allocated more money, more resources than any other team for Ranger Suarez because we can't.
Chapter 6: What are the potential risks associated with Ranger Suarez's health?
We can't look at this signing and not say, wow, I mean, this is not only the money, not only the years, but you're giving up two draft picks. And for a lot of teams, that's a big deal. The qualifying offer is a big deal. So they wanted to get that guy one way or the other, no matter who it was. And this is who it was.
Chapter 7: What does the current Red Sox rotation look like?
Do you think Craig Breslow wanted Ranger Suarez? Yeah. Well, why? Because he doesn't have a good extension? Yeah, he doesn't throw super hard.
Chapter 8: How did the Red Sox's approach to free agency impact their offseason?
He's not super tall. He has a type of guy. Yeah, see, I don't buy into that whole thing. It's sort of like with everything this offseason. Everybody is doing their best to figure out the formula. Everybody is doing their best to figure out this is what they're doing. This is how they're doing it. And I think that also leads to, well, this is the only type of pitcher that they have.
So I do think because you could go and say, hey, Frambois Valdez for that sort of guy is more along those lines. But I don't know if you know this guy is the best analytic is out.
and and they know that so I think that they understand the value of Ranger Suarez and they should understand the value of Ranger Suarez he's a good pitcher he is as I said they are better today than they were yesterday he also does miss eight to ten starts a year and I'm with you I like Ranger Suarez he's nails in the postseason he was good in the big market all that kind of thing but
All pitchers are fragile, but he specifically has back, knee, all kinds of issues every single year. Last year, career high, contract year too, 157 innings.
Career high, 157 innings.
So how do we feel about that? Yeah, so there's a couple things that you have to keep an eye on when it comes to Suarez. Number one, you look at the velocity. He's not a velocity guy, but the velocity has gone down a little bit over the last year. And that's something to keep an eye on. Not the be-all, end-all, because that's not the type of pitcher he is.
But you also look at, to your point, you also look at the last two Septembers. Not good. And I think he's ultimately, and this is going to, this is going to sound stupid because you just paid 5 million or five years, 130 million along with draft pick for the guy. But you got to have to manage this because if you do get them to the postseason, as the Phillies found out, this guy is nails, man.
This guy has nails in the big game. There's, No room for interpretation when it comes to that. He's had enough postseason games. He's had enough experience with that. But you've got to get him there. And we can't ignore, to your guy's point, September, the last couple years, have not been good. So, unfortunately, you are going to need extra pitchers to help get everybody ready.
And I think this goes along with everybody in the rotation. You just get roll it out and be 2004 all over again and say, here's our five guys. That's not how it is anymore. And I think that Ranger Suarez is an example of that.
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