All-Star starting pitcher Max Fried, Yankees reportedly agree to 8-year, $218M deal

Two-time All-Star pitcher Max Fried is joining the New York Yankees on an eight-year, $218 million deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.

Per the report, it’s the largest guaranteed contract for a left-handed pitcher in MLB history. Fried joins the Yankees two days after they reportedly lost a bidding war to the New York Mets for slugger Juan Soto, this winter’s top free-agent prize.

Losing out on Soto forced the Yankees to move to a Plan B in free agency, and adding Fried is the first significant step in that plan. Fried joins a staff that already features 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. The Yankees effectively now have two aces at the top of their rotation.

Fried declined a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer from the Braves in mid-November, opting to enter free agency. His signing with the Yankees means the Braves will receive draft-pick compensation. Fried signed a one-year, $15 million deal with Atlanta heading into the 2024 season.

Fried, 30, has spent his entire major-league career with the Braves, having made his debut in August 2017. Since becoming a consistent starter in 2019, he has racked up 71 wins. He is coming off his second All-Star season in which he threw 174 1/3 innings with a 3.25 ERA and 166 strikeouts. Fried ranked No. 7 on Yahoo Sports’ list of this winter’s top 50 free agents.

Fried spent some time on injured list this season due to nerve inflammation but returned to the mound in August. He pitched one complete game this year and nearly logged a combined no-hitter in May against the New York Mets before it was spoiled by a ninth-inning homer from J.D. Martinez.

Fried was named to the All-Star roster in 2022, and he was a key part of the Braves’ World Series-winning team in 2021. He earned a Silver Slugger award that year and also has three Gold Gloves (2020-2022).

For the Yankees, adding the gangly, much-accomplished lefty represents a swift and significant pivot. Signing Fried will not single-handedly erase the shattering disappointment of losing Juan Soto, but it’s a strong start. Trying to replace Soto’s value in the aggregate by reallocating those funds amongst a handful of players was always going to be the most reasonable path forward.

But Fried’s entry into New York’s over-crowded rotation also means another move is inevitable. Before inking Fried, the Yankees already employed six other starting pitchers: Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Marcus Stroman. It is a near lock that one of that sextet will be wearing another uniform and rocking facial hair come spring training.

Cole, the ace of the staff, isn’t going anywhere, and Rodón’s contract is too big to move. Gil and Schmidt are both young, cheap and under team control. That makes them valuable to the Yankees … and any potential trade partner. Cortes, whom the Yankees nearly dealt at the most recent trade deadline, and Stroman are less desirable. The duo scuffled for much of 2024 and spent September alternating with each other between the rotation and bullpen. Cutting bait with Cortes or Stroman would be more about creating space and eating dead money than adding a valuable player.

And the Yankees, particularly on the offensive side, are in dire need of valuable players. Read more here. — Mintz