The New York Yankees are hoping Max Fried can pitch like he did in 2021 when he helped the Atlanta Braves win the World Series.
Two days after the Yankees lost Juan Soto to the Mets, Fried agreed to join the Yankees with an eight-year, $218 million contract, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, who spoke to The Associated Press.
Fried’s contract is the largest ever for a left-handed pitcher, surpassing David Price’s seven-year, $217 million contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2016. The deal, first reported by ESPN, is subject to a successful physical examination, according to the person who requested anonymity because the deal had not been finalized yet.
Yankees fans were upset after Soto accepted the Mets’ offer of $765 million for 15 years, choosing it over the Yankees’ $760 million for 16 years. In response, the Yankees shifted their focus and money toward improving their starting pitching, although Fried comes with some risk.
The two-time All-Star has been on the injured list 10 times since 2018, including at least once each season.
Fried, who was a high school teammate of Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito at Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, now has the fourth-largest contract for a pitcher, behind only Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers ($325 million for 12 years through 2035), Gerrit Cole of the Yankees ($324 million for nine years through 2028), and Stephen Strasburg of Washington ($245 million for seven years through 2026). Strasburg has not pitched since 2022 and has since retired.
After spending his first eight seasons with the Braves, Fried now joins a Yankees rotation that includes Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes, and Marcus Stroman, suggesting that more moves are likely. Fried reached the agreement on the same day Cortes turned 30 and Rodón turned 32.
Fried, who is a three-time Gold Glove winner and will turn 31 on January 18, has one of the most varied pitching arsenals in the majors, throwing seven different pitches. His fastball averaged 93.9 mph this year, and he threw it 33.6% of the time. Fried also mixed in 21% curveballs, 15.6% sinkers, 13.6% changeups, 5.9% sweepers, 5.6% sliders, and 4.7% cutters.
This year, Fried had an 11-10 record with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts, striking out 166 batters and walking a career-high 57 in 174 1/3 innings. He missed time this season due to left forearm neuritis, marking his seventh straight season with an IL stint.
Fried’s past injuries include a blister on his middle finger in 2018, a strained left groin in 2018, a blister on his left index finger in 2019, a muscle spasm on his left side in 2020, a strained right hamstring in 2021, a concussion in 2022, and a strained left hamstring, strained left forearm, and blister on his left index finger in 2023.
Fried was drafted seventh overall in the 2012 amateur draft by San Diego. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2014, he was traded to the Braves in December 2014 as part of a six-player deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton to the Padres.
He made his major league debut in August 2017 and was sent down to the minors five times in 2018.
Fried was 17-6 with a 4.02 ERA in 2019 and 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the shortened 2020 season, finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young Award voting.
In 2021, he went 14-7 with a 3.04 ERA, including pitching six scoreless innings to help the Braves win the World Series in Game 6. He followed that with a 14-7 record and a 2.48 ERA in 2022, making his first All-Star team. In 2023, Fried was 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA over 14 starts.
