The Yankees pivot to bolster their rotation with Max Fried: Law

The New York Yankees lost their second-best player as a free agent on Sunday, but GM Brian Cashman didn’t sulk. He went out and brought in one of the top two free agents on the market, left-hander Max Fried, and agreed to give the former Atlanta starter an eight-year, $218 million contract that should give the Yankees one of the best rotations paper) in the American League.

Fried has quietly been one of the best starters in the game over the past five years, ranking 11th in fWAR with 15.4 since the start of the 2020 season despite missing 15-20 starts due to injury during that span. He has a killer curveball that remains his primary offspeed pitch and a true swing-and-miss weapon for him, with whiff rates consistently in the 35-40 percent range. He reaches speeds of 93 to 94 mph and throws a wide variety of throws, with Statcast naming him seven different throws in 2024, distinguishing a lower-velocity sweeper who had more rest than his traditional slider. I wrote in his free-agent capsule that I like him as a long-term option because he doesn’t rely on speed to get hitters out, and suggested he’ll get close to $30 million a year (correct) and maybe five years would earn (wrong).

The length of this deal could be something of a red herring as teams sign longer contracts to lower AAV for luxury tax purposes, something the Yankees must always consider of all teams. Is it more like seven years at $31 million a year? Six years and $36.3 million per year. Both seem reasonable, if a bit long, for a pitcher whose manner of getting outs depends more on command and changing speeds and shapes than on pure power. Given that many pitchers lose velocity in their 30s and there is now at least some evidence that pitching at peak velocity is linked to elbow problems, Fried appears to be one of the best candidates in free agency to retain his value.

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Why the Yankees targeted Max Fried and how he fits into their rotation

He’s also valuable and immediately slots in as the Yankees’ No. 2 starter, a consistent 3-4 WAR starter who has made 28 starts four times in the last five full MLB seasons. The Yankees have a very strong rotation on paper if everyone is healthy, and could even look to trade a starter — perhaps Nestor Cortes, who is a year away from free agency — somewhere for short-term offensive help.

Nothing they do can fully replace what they lost with the departure of Juan Soto, but Fried may have been the next best option for them. He did experience a reverse platoon split in 2024, largely caused by a .412 BABIP from left-handed batters, but given the small sample size and his career splits to that point, I’m inclined to believe that’s just is a coincidence. He has several weapons that should be effective against lefties, including the curveball and his true slider.

Fried would have been a good fit for many teams, but I wonder what the Los Angeles Angels will do now that the guy who was probably the best fit for them – he’s good, he’s young and he happens to be from…LA already signed. To be even relevant this year, the Angels will need to add some high-end pitching, and that would still require them to put together a healthy Mike Trout season and probably sign or otherwise acquire at least one more slugger.

The Angels should have a hard time keeping hold of Jack Flaherty, Corbin Burnes and even Sean Manaea, but it’s unlikely they’ll sign any of those guys. I don’t understand reaping the benefits of the Trout contract without investing in more talent around him. At that point, just swap him out and begin a proper rebuild, especially now that Shohei Ohtani is gone. The team’s pattern of recruiting college players who should move quickly shows that’s not their mindset, so spend some of Arte’s money.

(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)