MLB Free Agency Rumors: Red Sox Among Best Fits For All-Star Pitcher

It’s no secret the Boston Red Sox want to re-sign free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman. Turns out he might not be the only former Houston Astros star on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s radar.

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand names the best fits for left-hander Framber Valdez and his list included the Red Sox.

“Boston landed the ace it desperately needed last year with its trade for Garrett Crochet, but now the Red Sox are seeking another frontline starter to pair with the 2025 American League Cy Young runner-up,” Feinsand writes.

“Valdez would essentially replace Lucas Giolito in the rotation, adding an experienced arm to a relatively young starting staff,” Feinsand adds.

Best Fits

The other best fits for Valdez, according to Feinsand, are the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and yes, the Astros.

Valdez’s reputation took a hit last season when he appeared to hit his catcher, Cesar Salazar, intentionally with a pitch right after giving up a grand slam.

Salazar Incident

According American League executives who talked with Feinsand, the Salazar incident could slightly diminish Valdez’s market.

“I think some clubs might have pause over that incident, but don’t think it will limit him too much. There are so few quality starters. He’s been both durable and quality,” one executive said.

“I definitely think [the Salazar] incident will impact his market; I’m not sure to what degree, but I am confident that there are players and teams that will be somewhat hesitant to trust him. That said, he’s really good, so he’ll still do just fine. I’d imagine that he’ll find a team willing to look past that incident and pay him, but I would think that he’ll likely have fewer teams in on him than he otherwise might,” added another executive.

The Athletic talked to 10 pro scouts to rank the top pitchers available on the open market. Half of the first-place votes went to Valdez.

“Valdez deserved to finish first in the poll, multiple scouts said, because of the combination of an elite groundball rate, a low walk rate, an ability to rack up strikeouts and the ability to tackle a healthy workload,” The Athletic noted. “Perhaps that is no surprise. After all, Valdez is the highest-ranked pitcher on The Athletic’s Free Agent Big Board (No. 5 overall). Of the 78 pitchers with at least 500 innings over the past five seasons, Valdez ranks No. 1 in groundball rate and No. 3 in homer rate.”

The 32-year-old Valdez is a two-time All-Star who helped the Astros win the 2022 World Series. Last season, the southpaw went 13-11 with a 3.66 ERA and two complete games. He’s made 31 starts in three of the last four seasons and pitched more than 190 innings each year.

Projected Price Tag

So how much will it cost to sign Valdez?

The guy has been amazingly consistent for years,” an AL executive said to Feinsand. “He should have a very robust market. Age could hold him back from getting (Max) Fried-type money.”

The New York Yankees signed Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract last winter.

Feinsand also lists Blake Snell and the five-year, $182 million contract he signed last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a possible comp.