MLB News: Max Fried's Reported Red Sox, Rangers Offers Before Yankees Deal Revealed

Before the New York Yankees were able to land Max Fried on the richest contract ever given to a left-handed pitcher in MLB history, the two-time All-Star was weighing offers from the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Red Sox and Rangers both extended an offer of seven years and $190 million to Fried.

Sherman noted the Rangers' offer had a lot of appeal because there are no state taxes in Texas, so $190 million from them would be worth more than $190 million from the Red Sox.

Boston expressed a "willingness" to increase its offer, but the proposal also included deferred money.

WEEI's Rob Bradford added that Fried "likely" would have accepted the Red Sox's offer if it had been equal to the eight years and $218 million he got from the Yankees.

Boston was able to add a marquee left-handed pitcher to its rotation. Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe reported the Red Sox were set to acquire Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox. ESPN's Jeff Passan added the Red Sox will send multiple prospects back to Chicago in the deal.

There were rumblings that the Toronto Blue Jays, along with the Yankees and Red Sox, were the three finalists for Fried's services.

According to Sherman, the Blue Jays never got to the point where they extended an offer to the left-handed pitcher. The Rangers initially weren't planning to go as far financially as Fried was looking, but they "decided to stretch" after team officials had a Zoom meeting with him.

Even though the Yankees were still reeling from Juan Soto's decision to sign with the New York Mets for 15 years and $765 million that was reported by Passan on Sunday night, the timing of that news worked in their favor.

Sherman reported Yankees general manager Brian Cashman "quickly pivoted" to pursuing Fried, including letting his camp know he was the team's top priority. The strategy paid off with them not only getting their guy, but also keeping him away from the biggest rival.

The Red Sox are starting to turn into the AL version of the San Francisco Giants. They are pursuing top-tier free agents with nothing to show for it. They also had interest in Soto, but their offer topped out around $700 million over 15 years.

In fact, the Giants might actually be ahead of them in negotiating because they have at least been willing to pay top-of-the-market money for a star player. They just struggle to get anyone to take their money.

The largest free-agent contract the Red Sox have given out since the start of the 2020 season was Trevor Story's six-year, $140 million deal in March 2022. They did give Rafael Devers an 11-year, $331 million extension in January 2023.

Adding Crochet via trade takes a lot of the sting out of missing out on Fried, though Red Sox fans certainly would have preferred not to see the Yankees improve at their expense.

Texas was able to pivot after losing Fried by bringing back Nathan Eovaldi on a three-year, $75 million deal, per Passan. The right-hander will remain in a rotation that is hoping to get a full season of Jacob deGrom after he missed most of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.