Max

Fried

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand adds that the Red Sox were among several AL East teams, including the Yankees and Orioles, that were in on lefty Blake Snell before he agreed to a massive five-year, $182 million pact with the Dodgers. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Boston is looking to upgrade its lackluster starting rotation and Fried would certainly fit the bill as a certifiable front-of-the-rotation ace. With Snell representing the first real free agent domino falling, there could be a flurry of activity on the pitching market in the coming days.

Feinsand notes that Fried “may be the most sought-after arm” this offseason. That’s, in part, due to a career 3.07 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 863 strikeouts in 884 1/3 innings, but also because Fried is expected to command less on the open market than both Burnes and Snell. Given that the Red Sox need a left-handed starter and that Lucas Giolito and Max Fried were high school teammates, Feinsand suggests that Boston couldn’t be an intriguing destination for the 30-year-old. Other likely suitors are the Braves, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Giants, and Mets.

It’s now official. Nick Martinez was the lone recipient to accept a qualifying offer this offseason cycle, becoming just the 14th to do so since the system was implemented back in 2012. That leaves Juan Soto, Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernández, Christian Walker, Sean Manaea, Anthony Santander, Luis Severino and Pivetta officially heading to free agency. Their respective teams will receive draft pick compensation if they wind up signing elsewhere. No real surprises here besides Pivetta, who ESPN’s Jeff Passan indicated last week has at least a “three-year deal” waiting for him on the open market.

The 30-year-old left-hander is one of the top starting pitchers available on the open market this season, so he’s going to attract plenty of interest. The Orioles, Red Sox and Yankees have all been linked to him already as well and the Braves have made it a priority to retain him as well. MLBTradeRumors.com expects Fried to land a contract in the range of $156 million over six years.

Eovaldi declined his $20 million option with the Rangers for 2025 and will be one of the more sought after hurlers on the market. Atlanta has needs in its rotation even before considering the potential loss of Max Fried, so this fit makes a lot of sense on paper. Eovaldi has had issues in terms of durability, but he’s been very effective whenever he’s been on the bump.

Fried is poised to decline the qualifying offer and hit the open market after one of the best seasons of his career where he finished with a sparkling 3.25 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 166/57 K/BB ratio across 174 1/3 innings (29 starts). Not only did the 30-year-old southpaw prove he could stay healthy, but he’s re-established himself as a top-25 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes heading into next year.

The Braves “payroll exceeded luxury-tax thresholds each of the past two seasons” and they will return Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, Spencer Schwellencebach, Spencer Strider, AJ Smith-Shawver, and others, which means they might not feel the need to pay big money to bring back their top left-handed pitcher. The Braves certainly want Fried back, but the big question will be whether or not they can afford him.

That he gave up five runs also factored in, but these two things were probably connected, and while the Braves might have given Fried a chance to bounce back under other circumstances, they opted to go to Dylan Lee to begin the third tonight. Fried was drilled in the hip area by a Fernando Tatis Jr. comebacker in the first. He went on to escape a jam that inning, only to give up five runs in the next frame.

Fried stepped on the mound in a must-win game and had no intention of giving the Royals an inch. He breezed through the first eight innings in under 90 pitches and looked so menacing on the mound it was a little bit scary. He allowed just two base runners until that ninth inning and had pinpoint command of all four of his pitches. Fried has now built up quite a rolodex of big-game performances and the Braves hope they can give him another one of these big games next week.

A very solid outing for what was essentially a must-win game for Atlanta on Saturday. The left-hander struck out six with one walk to improve his K/BB on the season to 157/55 across 165 2/3 innings in 28 starts. Assuming Atlanta doesn’t make a change to the rotation order, Fried will be back on the bump with a 3.42 ERA against Kansas City on Friday.