DALLAS — After losing Juan Soto’s generational bat to the Mets, the Yankees chose to fortify a strength.
The pennant-winning team has agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract with longtime Atlanta Braves starter Max Fried, according to multiple reports. The deal is the largest guarantee in baseball history for a southpaw and the fourth-largest contract for a pitcher in baseball history.
Fried’s pact also includes a no-trade clause, but no opt-outs or deferrals, per the New York Post’s Joel Sherman. Sherman added that the Texas Rangers and rival Boston Red Sox were also late contenders for Fried.
Fried’s average annual value of $27.25 million is slightly higher than that of new teammate and fellow lefty Carlos Rodón, who signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Yankees before the 2023 season.
With Gerrit Cole serving as the Yankees’ ace, Fried gives the Yankees a better No. 2 after eight seasons in Atlanta. The 30-year-old has a 3.07 ERA for his career. Fried has also been fairly durable, pitching full seasons in five of the last six years.
Still, the Yankees are making a large commitment for a pitcher who has logged 180 innings just once in his career.
Last season, Fried went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA and 166 strikeouts over 29 starts and 174 1/3 innings for Atlanta while making his second All-Star team. A soft contact pitcher with a high ground-ball rate, Fried uses a seven-pitch arsenal that features a four-seamer, curveball, sinker, changeup, sweeper, slider and cutter.
In addition to a strong regular season track record, Fried brings championship experience to the Yankees, as he won a World Series with the Braves in 2021. However, he has a 5.10 ERA over 20 postseason games, including 12 starts.
A large Yankees contingent, including Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone and Matt Blake, first Zoomed with Fried last week. Meanwhile, special assistant Omar Minaya surely offered some insight, as he was the Padres’ senior vice president of baseball operations when they drafted Fried seventh overall in 2012.
With Fried on board, the Yankees are improving a rotation that wasn’t all that weak for them in 2024. On Monday, Cashman suggested that the team could double down on strengths after Soto’s bat defected to Flushing.
“Obviously, we just lost a big offensive force, but we also have guys that are certainly capable and quality and impactful,” Cashman said. “So, how can I add to that? Is it run prevention? Is it run creation? Is it a little bit of both? How it all adds up together, it’s all yet to be determined.”
With Cole, Fried, Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Luis Gil, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman all on hand, the Yankees can now deal from an area of strength.
The Yankees would love to get out of Stroman’s contract after he struggled in the second half and didn’t pitch in the postseason, but they’d have to sweeten any deal he’s involved in. Stroman is owed $18.5 million in 2025 and can make the same money in 2026 if he totals 140 innings next year.
Cortes could be a more attractive trade chip, though the lefty suffered a late-season flexor strain before returning for the World Series.
With the rotation reinforced, the Yankees now have questions at second or third — Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play both — first base and in the outfield. They also have some openings in their bullpen.