The Philadelphia Phillies have searched for which teams were interested in Ranger Suarez this fall.
Report: Phillies searched for Ranger Suarez trade partners
Rumblings first surfaced that the Phillies were looking to shop Suarez despite him putting together an All-Star campaign in 2024. B/R Walk-Off relayed a report from Matt Gelb of The Athletic which revealed Philadelphia’s active pursuits to trade the Venezuelan talent.
Suarez tapered off in 2024 after his back injury
Suarez earned a 12-8 record last season. He sported a 3.46 ERA and 1.201 WHIP for the Phillies. The 29-year-old also fanned a career-high 145 batters.
As efficient as he was for the season as a whole, the seven-year veteran experienced a steep dropoff in his quality of play from the first half of the year to the second half, thanks in part to dealing with a back injury. His ERA skyrocketed from 2.76 in the first half to 5.65 after. His WHIP followed suit from 1.044 to 1.691 in that span.
Phillies not as hot on Suarez as initially expressed this fall
Consequently, it seems as though Phillies management has pulled back on their initial confidence in the 6-1, 217-pound pitcher. As Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation reported back on Oct. 18, Phillies president Dave Dombrowski declared that the team had much interest in keeping Suarez around long-term, even after his late-season struggles unfolded:
“We like Ranger a lot,” Dombrowski said at his end-of-season press conference. “We liked the Ranger of the first half of the season better than the second half. There was a lot that was involved in that from his own perspective, but he’s a good pitcher. We’re all very open-minded to having Ranger in the organization for a long time.”
Philadelphia may be ready to move off of Suarez if they can upgrade at the position or elsewhere on their roster. He will be a major name to watch as the Dec. 9 winter meetings draw close.’
