Yankees Fans Celebrate Max Fried Contract After Losing Juan Soto in MLB Free Agency
The New York Yankees have signed former Atlanta Braves left-handed starting pitcher Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. It is the largest guarantee for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history.
The deal caused fans to unearth one of Fried's social media posts from 10 years ago celebrating Yankees legend Derek Jeter:
The Bronx Bombers are going shopping after Juan Soto rejected the team's 16-year, $760 million deal, opting instead to sign with the New York Mets (15 years, $765 million) on Saturday. They didn't waste much time, landing one of the biggest name free agent pitchers available.
The 30-year-old Fried, a two-time All-Star, pitched in Atlanta for eight seasons. He's gone 73-36 lifetime with a 3.07 ERA (1.16 WHIP) and 8.8 K/9 rate.
In New York, Fried could potentially slot in as the Yankees' No. 2 starter behind ace Gerrit Cole. The defending AL champions certainly could have used another high-quality arm to strengthen the rotation, and that's what they got in Fried, who elicited many positive remarks from fans and analysts alike following the move.
New York certainly isn't done at this point. On Monday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com listed a few notable names:
"Could the Yankees sign Alex Bregman, Max Fried and/or Christian Walker? What about a trade for Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger or Nolan Arenado? All options are now on the table for the Yankees in this new post-Soto world."
The Yankees need help at first and third base and need to fill Soto's spot in the outfield, so their attention should turn more toward bats now after getting the Fried deal done.
