MLB Free Agents 2024: Rumors and Predictions for Max Fried, Yankees, Mets and Orioles
With some key names finally signing to new teams in free agency, including Willy Adames, who joined the San Francisco Giants Saturday, there are suddenly fewer options for championship-contending teams to sign in an attempt to capture a World Series title.
That includes the Orioles, Mets, and Yankees, all of whom have their eyes on player.
Max Fried is one such player who will instantly make any team better, at least in theory.
Where might he land, who is (or isn't) interested in him, and who else is making headlines for their free agent availability?
Find out with this look at the most recent crop of insider reports.
Which Team Is NOT in on Max Fried?
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Several teams want to acquire free-agent starter Max Fried from the Atlanta Braves. One such team that is not, though, is the AL East runners-up, the Baltimore Orioles.
Ken Rosenthal and WIll Sammon of The Athletic reported that the O's are "reluctant to pursue the remaining free-agent starting pitchers who received qualifying offers from other clubs — Max Fried, Sean Manaea and Nick Pivetta" because of the draft pick they would lose in return for targeting a player with a qualifying offer extended to them.
Instead, the team is more interested in Nathan Eovaldi than even Jack Flaherty, who the team acquired in a trade in the 2023 season but struggled mightily upon arriving in Baltimore.
Eovaldi did not play as well in 2024 as he did in the Texas Rangers' World Series year a season earlier, but he still showed solid command while hurling 4.2 strikes per walk, tallying a 3.80 ERA, and accumulating 166 strikeouts.
He would fit the Orioles' tendency to attract overlooked veterans, something to team has done to great success in recent years with James McCann, Ryan O'Hearn, and Adam Frazier.
As for Fried, the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox are all keen on acquiring the lefty in hopes of bolstering their rotations. Landing with them instantly improves their team and puts them in a position to make a postseason run.
Especially the AL champion Yankees, whose pitching and inability to stop the opposing offense cost them a shot at a record World Series ring against the Dodgers.
Prediction: O's get their man in Eovaldi while Fried signs in Boston, after the Red Sox fail to sway Juan Soto
Yankees Interested in Which Second Baseman?
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The New York Yankees are interested in veteran second baseman Thairo Estrada, per MLB Network's Mark Feinsand.
Estrada had a statistically down year but also only played in 96 games in 2024. He accumulated 79 hits, drove in 47 RBI, and hit just nine home runs for the San Francisco Giants, for whom he has played four seasons.
Estrada began his career in New York with the Yankees so it makes sense that the organization, familiar with him and in need of an upgrade at second, would pursue him.
With several teams looking at the veteran, including the Colorado Rockies, he is a player who could find himself commanding a bigger payday than originally expected. Whether he gets that from New York likely depends on the overarching story of this postseason: the team's attempt to re-sign Juan Soto.
Prediction: Estrada returns to New York on a three-year deal
Mets Interested in Re-Signing Starter
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Sean Manaea was the unsung hero the Mets' run to the NL Championship Series in 2024, a veteran arm who ate up innings and helped deliver the team victories on its winding road to the postseason.
The team is interested in re-signing him, per Rosenthall and Sammon.
The lefty went 12-6 this year, with an ERA of 3.47, 184 strikeouts, and a 1.08 WHIP. He routinely went into the seventh inning of starts, providing the team with depth and more importantly, leaving the starters with fewer innings to shut down the opposing offense in.
He was a great locker room presence, never lost track of the significance of his place on the mound, and his respect for the game was evident.
The question is whether the Mets will have enough money to convince Manaea to return. It is a business and after rejecting the team's qualifying offer, Manaea is free and clear to sign wherever he pleases.
If that is the Mets organization, the team will be happy to have him. That is, if they don't sign Soto and can afford it.
Prediction: Manaea signs elsewhere
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