Top 3 Landing Spots for Underrated Free Agent Ranger Suarez

Ranger Suarez, free agent pitcher, throws a pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies

He's probably the most underrated pitcher on the free agent market. While everyone gushes about Framber Valdez, Japanese sensation Tatsuya Imai, and the Toronto Blue Jays' massive signing of Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez seemingly flies under the radar.

The lefty doesn't blow people away, nor rack up huge strikeout totals. But he's a finesse pitcher who has total command over his pitches and locates the ball with great effectiveness. Since he moved into the Philadelphia Phillies' starting rotation five years ago, he's compiled a 3.25 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 8.4 K/9. He was an All-Star in 2024, and this past season was even better, with a 3.20 ERA and a 137 ERA+, both numbers better than in '24.

Let's take a look at three top landing spots for the 30-year-old, with the help of Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.

Ranger Suarez is right in the Baltimore Orioles' snack bracket

With a projected contract of four years for $92 million, per ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, Suarez seems right in the wheelhouse for where the Orioles could go with a free agent offer. This is a team that is in desperate need of a frontline starter, but they are highly unlikely to play with the big boys in bidding for Valdez or Imai. The O's already addressed one pitching need by signing former Reliever of the Year Ryan Helsely for their bullpen, but they still need to bolster their rotation, and Suarez makes a lot of sense.

Chicago Cubs could use another high-end starter like Suarez

Suarez likes pitching at Wrigley Field, this we know, as he boasts a 1.88 ERA with an 0.97 WHIP and a 15:3 strikeout to walk ratio in 14 career innings there. The Cubs also don't usually go fishing at the very top of the free agent pool, as Miller implied, so Suarez seems like a nice fit for them, as they are looking for a near top-of-the-rotation arm to go with 2025's rookie sensation Cade Horton. Justin Steele will be back from his elbow surgery in May or June, and that would form a formidable top 3.

San Francisco Giants might not get the top of the market starter, but Suarez is a good fallback

Unlike the O's & Cubbies, the Giants usually do go shopping in the most expensive aisles in free agency, and most of the time, they come up empty-handed. So if they're unable to land Valdez or Imai, they'd be a strong player for Suarez. And their rotation could really use a third elite arm. Miller has one of the best lines of the pitching market, noting that "the Giants' rotation looks like a full house: two aces and three fives." In other words, their one-two punch at the top, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, is followed by a bunch of not-so-impressive back end starters. Suarez would be a terrific No. 3 on this staff.

And although, in a strange tidbit, Suarez has never even faced the Giants, Miller quotes Baseball Savant, in projecting that Suarez's already impressive ability to suppress the home run ball would get even better in San Francisco: His expected HRs allowed if all of his innings had been pitched at AT & T Park is 59, compared to the 78 long balls he's surrendered at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.