Framber Valdez had gone nearly three months without blinking.
No three-run innings. No unraveling moments. Just one groundball clinic after another — the kind of run that cements a pitcher’s value right before a contract year hits full speed.
Then came the Boston Red Sox.
On Sunday, in his first appearance against Boston this season, Valdez finally cracked. A six-run meltdown in the fourth inning — highlighted by a balk, an error on a bunt, and a few wild pitches — ended his streak of 11 straight starts without allowing three earned runs in a single inning.
It was Boston, of all teams, that broke it. And perhaps in a few months, it will be Boston that writes his next check.
MLB Analyst Predicts Boston Will Sign Framber Valdez in Free Agency
As suggested by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, the Red Sox are a bold prediction to sign Valdez this winter. The pitch? A five-year, $160 million deal that would give Boston the co-ace it didn’t trade for at the deadline, spurring one MLB insider to blast the team’s front office for its “epic fail.”
Because the poorly kept secret is that the Red Sox are contending in spite of their rotation. And at the 2025 trade deadline, when players were flying off the board, Boston watched the market unfold like a bystander on a moving train.
No Dylan Cease. No Zac Gallen. No Mitch Keller. Not even a Mike Siroka-type depth piece. While other clubs stocked up for the stretch run, the Sox… stood pat.
For a rotation that ranks near the middle of the league in ERA (3.93) and strikeouts (559) — and has leaned far too heavily on Tanner Houck and Richard Fitts — that kind of passivity was baffling. Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow made claims about being “uncomfortably aggressive” about the players Boston would be willing to include in a deal.
“It wasn’t from a lack of effort,” Breslow said.
But an A for effort means very little when that effort produced no results, leaving the Red Sox as an incomplete team left hoping its bats and bullpen can carry the weight.
Putting Framber Valdez Alongside Garret Crochet Would Give Boston an Elite Duo
Which brings us back to Valdez. Because if the Red Sox weren’t willing to pay the prospect price to get rotation help at the deadline, they may be forced to pay in dollars come winter.
Valdez, a 31-year-old lefty with playoff pedigree and one of the league’s best groundball rates, will hit free agency as one of the top starters on the market. The Astros, according to Sports Illustrated, may already be preparing to let him walk.
Through August 5, Valdez owns a 2.83 ERA across 22 starts, with a WHIP under 1.12 and 140 innings logged — all while keeping his walk rate down and his soft contact rate elite. His body of work is that of a frontline innings-eater, which combined with Garret Crochet would give the Red Sox a starting duo to compete with anyone.
And after getting an up-close look at Valdez — and finally handing him a loss — it’s not hard to imagine Boston making him a target rather than an opponent. Especially after the front office failed to act when it mattered most.
Because in a trade deadline defined by silence in Boston, a future headliner could flip the script.
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