Chapter 1: What are the details of Ranger Suarez's contract with the Red Sox?
morning everyone thank you all for joining us welcome to the 521 overlook at fenway park today the boston red sox announced that they signed left-handed pitcher ranger suarez to a five-year contract through the 2030 season with the mutual option for 2031. ranger is here to take your questions along with red sox president and ceo sam kennedy chief baseball officer craig breslow agent scott boris
and interpreter Davison Perez. Before we get to your questions, I'd like to turn it over to Sam Kennedy for opening remarks.
Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome back to Fenway Park. Great to see everybody. I want to thank all the Red Sox employees in the back there who are here to welcome you, Ranger, to Boston. Thank you for all the hard work this off season, everybody. On behalf of John and Linda Henry, who are here today, our Chairman Tom Warner and Mike Gordon, we want to welcome everybody and thank them for
the consistent support and the resources to make this transaction possible.
Chapter 2: What are the opening remarks from Red Sox leadership about Ranger Suarez?
I want to thank Ranger and his family for your commitment to Boston. And I want to especially thank Scott and his team at the Scott Boris Corporation. It's always better to be sitting on the dais with Scott than on the phone. And we are very appreciative of you and your team's efforts. Huge thanks to Brez and Baseball Ops. Big shout out to Brian O'Halloran who worked overtime on this one.
All the urgency and the commitment to getting this deal done was great to see. It's been a very, very busy and long off season.
We have more work to do, but appreciate everyone's efforts and I'll turn it over to Brez. Sure. Thanks, Sam. Good morning, everyone. Welcome. If you think back to the outset of the offseason, we talked a lot about building a roster that we thought was capable of competing for a World Series in 2026 and beyond.
Bringing in a player with the talent and accomplishments of Ranger positions us, we believe, to do just that. Ranger's been an excellent starting pitcher in a very tough division for a really long time, was an all-star two years ago, was even better last year. But I think what really stands out is the body of work in the postseason.
When his teams needed him the most, he was at his best, and we look forward to Ranger continuing to build that postseason resume here over the next five years. I also want to thank John, Tom, Mike, Sam, and Linda, our ownership group, for the support of this pursuit. I've maintained over the last two years that
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Chapter 3: How does Ranger Suarez feel about joining the Red Sox?
In my experiences, at any point, there was an opportunity to meaningfully improve the team. We had not just the support, but the enthusiasm and the encouragement from our ownership group. And I think today is even more evidence of that. I also want to thank Scott and Luis, Greg, the Boris Corporation, who
Even going back to November, I think the first time that we talked about our interest in Ranger, negotiated in good faith and partnered with us to reach this outcome. A number of people in baseball operations who put us in a position to take advantage of this opportunity from scouts to analysts to our leadership team and BOH who ran point on some of the negotiations.
um you know i think there was a there were a number of people who who contributed to such a great outcome here and then lastly anytime you make a commitment of this magnitude you want to have as much information as possible you want to know exactly what you're getting and fortunately because baseball is such a close-knit community it wasn't hard to find uh
mutual friends, former teammates, coaches, front office personnel who could speak about their relationships and experiences with Ranger. And there were two things that really stood out. One was just the sheer talent. A number of people said that Ranger was the type of guy who could roll out of bed and throw a bullpen and not miss a single spot.
And I think our industry has moved away from that type of pitchability and guile. But as we've seen over the last six years, there's definitely still a place for a pitcher who doesn't issue free passes and can manage hard contact. And the second thing that stood out was this big sense of humor that people talked about.
And so we're looking forward to your personality really surfacing over the next five years. And so we want to welcome your family to ours, to the Red Sox family. And I can assure you that if you pitch like you have over the last six years and you make people laugh, then you will readily endear yourself to the Red Sox faithful. So welcome.
We're incredibly excited to have you and really excited for what the next five years will bring.
And now Ranger would like to say a few words. I want to thank the Boston team in general, the owner, Henry, Sam, you, everyone in general. I don't want to leave anyone out because they trust me and I want to contribute my little grain of sand.
First off, I just want to say good morning to everyone. Thank you all for being here. First, I just want to give thanks to God for this new opportunity here with Boston. I want to thank my family for their support. I want to thank the ownership group, John, Sam, Craig, for this opportunity and just looking forward to putting my little grain of rice in what we're doing here.
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Chapter 4: What makes Ranger Suarez an appealing player for the Red Sox?
I'm just really excited to be here with this team.
and i just want to thank scott thank louise uh for for being you know here with me through through this opportunity and and helping me through um this process thank you ranger we'll pause now for a brief photo opportunity ranger we have a hat and a jersey for you
Thank you.
Looks good.
Congratulations. Welcome. Thanks. Thanks.
One more piece. And now we'll begin with questions.
Please raise your hand for the mic.
I guess both from Craig and Scott's perspective, you say you started talking in November and just for it to finally come together a couple months later, what was the whole process like?
Sure, I can take the first step here. Obviously, Scott had a number of really talented free agents this year, as the Boris Corp tends to. And so we expressed interest in a number of them, but from very early on, we felt like
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Chapter 5: What is Ranger's unique pitching style and philosophy?
And so we arrived here today. Ranger, what made the Red Sox so appealing to you? And when Scott was talking about when you were a kid, did you have any particular favorite players back then?
Thank you, thank you for the invitation. Yes, always when what you are saying is here, Cada vez que uno veía un juego de béisbol en televisión era Yankee Boston. Y yo todo el mundo era fanático de los Yankees. Y yo decía, ¿por qué nadie es fanático de Boston? Entonces, empecé a ver los juegos de Boston. Me gustaba mucho la época de Pedro Martínez.
The whole story that I started to investigate a little bit, the whole story that Boston has had with Perru, Roger Clemens, Pedro, W.O.T., Josh Baker, a lot of people, a lot of people, so the team became comfortable and all that.
Yeah, just like Scott said, you know, since I was a little kid, when we would watch baseball on TV, what would be on was Red Sox-Yankees. And, you know, everyone was going for the Yankees. And I asked, why is no one going for Boston? And that's where the interest started. And, yeah, just as I was made aware of the history of the team and, you know, hearing about how Babe Ruth pitched,
played here and how you hear about Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz and all of the legends that have come through here. So that's what really captivated me about this opportunity. Obviously you already alluded to it, there had been dialogue between the Red Sox and Boris, and Scott Boris, about Boris Corp clients throughout the off season.
How quick, for Craig and Sam, how do you describe the shift in focus or the shift in dialogue that may have occurred around the time that Alex Bregman agreed to his deal with the Cubs? Yeah, and Scott from your vantage point, how would you describe kind of the acceleration of talks surrounding Ranger?
Sure. Well, I think the place to start is that there was strong interest in Ranger, irrespective and independent of other decisions and other outcomes.
And we had established a foundation of that interest, a relationship with Ranger, a great Zoom call that Scott alluded to where we talked about our pitching philosophy, the things that have worked for Ranger, why we feel like they can continue to work. And I think the
The most important thing that we did as an organization, as a baseball operation is understand that there are multiple paths to improving the team. And I don't think there's a question anymore that the identity of our team, the strength of our team is going to be our pitching and our ability to prevent runs. And so when one opportunity was closed off, I wouldn't say that there was a strong
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Chapter 6: How does Ranger Suarez view his transition from bullpen to starting pitcher?
It was very clear throughout our conversations that the idea of Ranger and the Red Sox and such were always a topic. I myself did not view one or the other. I viewed as though they were adding pitching and trying to improve their team in a number of ways, adding players, whatever it may be.
So I really felt that as much work and much conversation has been done, it was always part of the plan to include Ranger.
Right here with Alberto.
Thank you. My real name is Frank Herr, but it's more comfortable to say it. To my country, Venezuela, to everyone, I send you a greeting, a big hug, and thank you for the support you have always given me.
Just to translate, the question was around Venezuela and also how he actually says his name. So my name is actually Rangel, but however you guys want to address me, Ranger, is how most people do, so I'm comfortable with either. And just wanted to say hello and give a big hug to all of my friends and family out in Venezuela. And I'm happy to represent.
Ranger so um just as far as your free agency goes you will presumably have many of choices what made the Red Sox the right fit and what do you like about this year's club that you're joining now
Because in Boston, every time you come to play with another team at the stadium, you feel that feeling that you get to say so many legends that have passed through this stadium. I've always liked to step on the same platform where Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Perruch launched.
So every time you get to Boston, and it's one of the oldest stadiums, it gives you that intrigue and that challenge to continue contributing a grain of sand.
Yeah, no, when you come here to Fenway Park and you have the chance to pitch on the same mound that Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Babe Ruth threw off of, you have, you get that energy from that experience and it's just, you know, something that motivates you to want to give your little grain of sand into what is a bigger history.
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Chapter 7: What role does Ranger see himself playing in the Red Sox lineup?
He's unpredictable. He's got a very, very deep repertoire, uh, that keeps hitters off balance. And we feel like he's going to be a very good pitcher for the next five years.
Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week. Hoda Kotb reached out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said, no, I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon.
I must live up to my responsibility. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. Rangel, welcome to Boston. I wanted to ask you, you mentioned Craig a few moments ago, you have been successful in the postseason. What do you think you have worked to be very successful in the playoffs? And the second question I wanted to ask you is, are you going to play with Venezuela in the World Cup?
Thank you, thank you. I think it's enjoying the game. I think that's what has helped me succeed in some play-offs. I think it's enjoying the game, having fun every time I go to Monticulo. About Venezuela, I hope I can represent my country, which is what I've always wanted since I was a child. And to remove that thorn that I have from the last time I couldn't go.
just the question was about postseason success and also if he is going to be playing with Venezuela in the WBC. I think what my postseason, what is, The reason for my postseason success is just going out there and having fun and enjoying my time out on the mound. And I think that's led to a lot of positive results. As far as the WBC, I would love to.
I would really love to play for Venezuela, but no updates there right now. I guess for Ranger Craig, in this day and age, it's like velocity, velocity, velocity. Why do you think, Ranger, you've been able to thrive without that 100-mile-an-hour philosophy? And Craig, along those same lines, what drew you to him despite the big radar ratings?
I believe and I think that if you have a good launch location and mix your launch well, I think you don't need to launch hard.
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Chapter 8: What are Ranger's thoughts on representing Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic?
There is my example. I'm not one of those who shoot so hard, but I think I prepare more to have an exit to execute my pitches.
Yeah, I think, you know, if you have really good command of your pitches and are able to mix them well, you don't really need 100. And that's kind of what I do. Yeah, in my case, that's what's given me the most success.
Yeah, so if you look at, you know, kind of the pitch usage, even last year, right, like, you know, kind of sinker and change up the predominant pitches. But after that, I think the next three pitches in the repertoire all had equal use of like 16% per pitch, which means that if you are trying to predict the incoming pitch,
probably going to get it wrong and so when you think about velocity sure it gives pitchers more more room for error right there's some trade-off between velocity and command and the less command you have probably the more velocity and vice versa and uh you know ranger's just a guy who's been successful on the other side of that equation where the ability to locate five or six pitches and keep hitters off balance has been uh you know been the the recipe for success for him and it's one that we believe will uh will have real staying power
Again, for Craig, you always say there's no such thing as too much starting pitching. Do you feel like now you're close to having enough?
And also, do you feel like the training from that group to address the other needs makes some sense? So there's no such thing as too much starting pitching. And also, we'll continue to look at ways to improve the team.
And if that means, you know, potentially talking about trading from an area of depth in order to address another roster need, it's something that we're going to be willing to hear out and be open-minded to. We talked at the beginning of the off-season that free agency and trades and internal development were three ways to improve our team. And we'll try to leverage all three.
Ranger, when you were with the Phillies in 2021 and you moved from the bullpen to the rotation late in the season, you went from pitching maybe an inning and a third to a complete game shutout in about a month. And you've sustained that success as a starting pitcher ever since. What was that transition like for you and your evolution as a pitcher?
It was an easy transition because I always worked as an opener. I always kept doing all my things as if I were an opener. I think when they asked me if I wanted to be an opener, the answer was easy because I always worked to be an opener and that's what happened.
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