{"id":403058,"date":"2026-01-10T00:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403058\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T00:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:16:07","slug":"poll-would-you-rather-have-framber-valdez-or-ranger-suarez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/403058\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll: Would You Rather Have Framber Valdez Or Ranger Suarez?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025-26 offseason hasn\u2019t been exceptionally slow overall to this point, with 30 of MLBTR\u2019s Top 50 free agents<\/a> already signed in addition to plenty of significant trades. With that said, however, things have been unusually quiet at the top of the class. Outside of an early strike by the Blue Jays to land Dylan Cease<\/a> back in November, the only free agents in MLBTR\u2019s Top 10 who have signed are Kyle Schwarber<\/a>, who was always expected to re-up with the Phillies in relatively short order, and the NPB duo of Munetaka Murakami<\/a> and Tatsuya Imai<\/a>, both of whom had firm deadlines to sign a contract due to the rules of the posting process. The rest of the offseason\u2019s top free agents are still out there, and while plenty of attention has been paid to the four best hitters available\u2014Kyle Tucker<\/a>, Bo Bichette<\/a>, Alex Bregman<\/a>, and Cody Bellinger<\/a>\u2014less fanfare has been made about the two best pitchers available.<\/p>\n

With Cease and Imai off the market, the only two pitchers from MLBTR\u2019s top 10 still available are lefties Framber Valdez<\/a> and Ranger Suarez<\/a>. Both are on the shortlist of the most talented lefty starters in the game at the moment, with solid track records of success in both the regular season and postseason. Both players took some time to get their careers into full swing; each became a full-time starter at age-26, though Valdez reached that point during the shortened 2020 season so he didn\u2019t receive a full slate of starts until the following year. Suarez also received a half-season of starts before getting a full workload, as he joined the Phillies\u2019 rotation on a permanent basis in August of 2021 with 12 starts down the stretch and never looked back. Since joining their respective rotations full time, each has proven to be a reliable front-end arm.<\/p>\n

In terms of overall track record, Valdez has the edge. Valdez has an extra year as a starter under his belt, but even by that metric, volume is a clear separator. His 153 games started since joining the Astros\u2019 rotation aren\u2019t too far ahead of the 116 starts Suarez has made when factoring that extra year, but Valdez\u2019s 973 innings of work utterly dwarf Suarez\u2019s 654 frames. Things are much closer in terms of results on the field, but Valdez still has the edge with a 3.23 ERA and 3.38 FIP to Suarez\u2019s 3.39 ERA and 3.45 FIP. Suarez\u2019s 22.2% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate, and 51.3% ground ball rate are all solid. But Valdez\u2019s has the edge in terms of punchouts and grounders, with only slightly more free passes: 23.8% strikeout rate, 8.0% walk rate, and 61.5% ground ball rate.<\/p>\n

That combination of volume and results may paint the picture that Valdez is clearly the superior arm, but there\u2019s more factors to consider. Suarez and Valdez enjoyed virtually identical platform seasons, with a 3.59 ERA and 3.57 FIP for Suarez to Valdez\u2019s 3.66 ERA and 3.37 FIP. The pair\u2019s strikeout rate was also mostly the same, (23.3% for Valdez and 23.2% for Suarez), but Suarez took a big step forward in terms of walk rate and issued free passes at just a 5.8% clip to Valdez\u2019s 8.5%.<\/p>\n

That ability to cut down walks is certainly attractive, and it\u2019s fair to argue that Suarez is trending upward while Valdez could be starting to show some signs of decline. That\u2019s especially relevant given the age gap between the two; Suarez is two years younger than Valdez, entering free agency at age-30 as opposed to age-32. MLBTR projected both pitchers for five-year deals back in November. Using those predictions, Suarez would be paid through age-34 while Valdez would be on the books through age-36 on an identical contract. Suarez would also be cheaper, at least according to MLBTR, with a $115MM prediction for Suarez compared to a $150MM prediction for Valdez.<\/p>\n

In addition, Suarez\u2019s postseason resume is nearly spotless, with a career 1.48 ERA in the playoffs. By contrast, Valdez has a 4.34 postseason ERA. That comes in double the innings (85 frames against Suarez\u2019s 42 2\/3 innings of work), but the elder lefty\u2019s work in recent years has been particularly lackluster; he\u2019s posted an 8.27 ERA in his last four playoff starts. A strong postseason resume isn\u2019t typically a major factor in the sort of nine-figure deals Valdez and Suarez are seeking, but it could easily serve as a tiebreaker for some clubs between two pitchers this similar. Another soft factor that could play a role in differentiating the two is an incident last season where Astros catcher Cesar Salazar<\/a> was struck by a pitch from Valdez in a cross-up situation. Speculation arose at the time that the pitch was intentional on Valdez\u2019s part, though both players declared it an accident afterwards.<\/p>\n

How do MLBTR readers view the two lefties, and which would you rather have over the next five years? Are Valdez\u2019s superior volume and results enough to overcome Suarez\u2019s advantages in age and postseason performance? Have your say in the poll below:<\/p>\n

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