One week after reports initially emerged that the New York Yankees signed star southpaw pitcher Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million deal, the team finally made it official on Tuesday.
He will be officially introduced to the New York media at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The 30-year-old went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 174.1 innings of work last season with the Atlanta Braves. He tossed a pair of complete games, which was tied for the MLB lead, headlining the bulk of a season in which he overcame a difficult opening two starts to post a 2.82 ERA across his final 27 outings of 2024.
Fried has been one of the more consistent pitchers in all of baseball over the last five seasons, going 54-25 with a 2.81 ERA, which is the lowest mark by any starting pitcher who had thrown at least 500 innings during that span.
A two-time top-five finisher in the NL Cy Young Award voting, Fried has extensive postseason experience, headlined by six scoreless innings in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series to help the Braves clinch a title over the Houston Astros.
He provides a considerable boost to a starting rotation that needed something extra at the top alongside Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon — especially if the Yankees are predicting success in 2025 on their pitching rather than an offense that has lost Juan Soto and is having some difficulties trying to fill the void.
Bolstering the infield defense will be a must, though. Since 2020, Fried ranks third in groundball percentage (54.5%) and joins a Yankees team that does not have a first baseman and is unsure if Jazz Chisholm will play third base or return to his natural spot at second.
