Red Sox insider revealed just how close the Orioles were to offseason blockbuster

Eric Cole

'This is a special place': New Red Sox lefthander Ranger Suárez introduced at Fenway Park / Boston Globe/GettyImages

The Baltimore Orioles' quest for a frontline starter this offseason has been very well-documented by now. Lately, most of that attention has been focused on their pursuit of Framber Valdez, but there was a time this offseason when it looked like Baltimore preferred Ranger Suarez before he signed with the hated Red Sox. However, what fans may not realize is just how close the Orioles actually got to landing the talented lefthander.

It is not surprising whatsoever that the Orioles were involved in the bidding until late in the game for Suarez. However, according to Red Sox insider Alex Speier, the Orioles were the frontrunners for Suarez before the Red Sox made a last-second push to steal him away.

The Orioles were the most aggressive team in the bidding for Ranger Suarez before the Red Sox jumped in, per @alexspeier.

Speier noted there was a realistic path to a deal for Suarez and Baltimore last week. Boras mentioned the Sox had to play some catch-up in negotiations too. pic.twitter.com/hZgKlkADvo
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) January 22, 2026

Orioles quite literally had Ranger Suarez stolen from them by the Red Sox at the last minute

Again, Baltimore being in second place to the Red Sox for Suarez was already known information. However, Speier revealed that Baltimore, not Boston, was the team that was the most aggressive suitor for Suarez for most of the process. Based on comments from Scott Boras, it seems like Suarez had his demands, and the Orioles were the closest (but not quite) for a while before the Red Sox surged late and snagged him away.

This is obviously a bummer, but it does raise the question of exactly what offer Baltimore had on the table for Suarez, as it could inform our guesses as to where the Valdez negotiations stand. Reports right now are that Valdez is going to have to take a shorter-term deal than he was hoping for at the start of the offseason. One wonders if years were the hang-up when it comes to pursuing Suarez, and knowing what AAV they were willing to give would definitely be instructive.

Unfortunately, we probably aren't going to get too many more details about Baltimore's failed bid for Suarez, as even getting this much info is pretty rare as it is. One hopes that the Orioles learned from that process and will be able to close the deal this time instead of coming up empty-handed yet again.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.