Shortly after Max Fried agreed to the most important contract ever for a left-handed pitcher, the Yankees’ new ace didn’t contemplate splurging on a flowery automobile or a lavish house.
“The first thing that kind of popped into my mind was probably just, like, getting my dog a bunch of dog food,” Fried stated Wednesday after his introductory press convention at Yankee Stadium.
That revelation, whereas worthy of amusing, provided a glimpse into the centered character that appealed so strongly to the Yankees throughout their pursuit of Fried.
Fried spoke Wednesday about how he linked with basic supervisor Brian Cashman and supervisor Aaron Boone throughout a 90-minute Zoom name this offseason over a shared obsession with profitable.
Cashman and Boone, too, got here away from that decision believing Fried would make a great match of their clubhouse. In fact, it took greater than aligning on values to achieve an eight-year, $218 million mega-contract.
Since he turned a full-time member of the Atlanta Braves rotation in 2019, Fried has been amongst MLB’s finest and most constant pitchers.
His 3.08 ERA during the last six seasons ranks third amongst starters who threw at the least 800 innings, whereas his 71 wins rank second. New teammate Gerrit Cole is the one pitcher who has been higher than Fried in each classes.
Fried has not posted an ERA larger than 3.25 in any of the final 5 seasons. He boasts two All-Star alternatives, three Gold Gloves and two top-five finishes in Nationwide League Cy Younger Award voting.
And he hurled six shutout innings in Recreation 6 of the 2021 World Collection on the night time the Braves clinched the championship over the Houston Astros.
“He’s added to his repertoire, mastered that repertoire,” Cashman stated. “He continues to emerge as someone that’s adjusting to the league as they adjust to him and finding ways to navigate it. I love the personality. Sounds like a warrior on the mound when he’s got the ball in his hand, and a very genuine, good, down-to-earth human being on the four days in between.”
The Yankees recognized Fried, who turns 31 subsequent month, as a precedence regardless of starting the offseason with at the least six viable rotation choices below contract.
Boone stated Fried was atop their want listing on the Winter Conferences in Dallas.
“I heard the Yankees had interest, and I would say that I was fairly surprised at the beginning,” Fried stated, later explaining he was conscious of the workforce’s sturdy beginning employees. “But when the Yankees say that they’re interested in you, you perk up and you listen.”
Fried provides a distinct dynamic to a Yankees rotation that includes energy arms in Cole, Carlos Rodón and Luis Gil.
Though he’s averaged 8.8 strikeouts per 9 innings by way of eight MLB seasons, Fried depends way more on inducing smooth contact to dominate hitters. He throws seven pitches, together with a fastball that cuts in on right-handed batters and a putaway curveball that includes -17 inches of induced vertical break.
“I have a lot of confidence in [pitching coach] Matt [Blake] and our pitching group that they can move the needle a little bit more and help him get better,” Boone stated.
“You never want to stop working to get better. Look, he’s a frontline starter already, so how much can you move that needle? Hopefully we can. Just in the early stages of getting to know him, he feels like a guy to me that is thirsty for things that are going to help him.”
The Yankees turned to Fried after shedding famous person slugger Juan Soto to the Mets in free company, selecting to first bolster a energy earlier than discovering methods to reinvent their offense.
They’ve since added shutdown nearer Devin Williams and first baseman/heart fielder Cody Bellinger, whose above-average protection at each positions can even assist with run prevention.
“I told all the free agents … that we had to wait on the Soto decision,” Cashman stated Wednesday. “We certainly hoped it was going to come sooner, and there was a period of time I expected it to come sooner. It was actually conveyed that it was gonna come sooner, but then it took an extra 10 days, it felt like, and bled into the Winter Meetings.”
Cashman watched Blake Snell and Willy Adams come off the board earlier than Soto reached a 15-year, $765 million pact with the Mets.
However Fried remained in play, agreeing to affix the Yankees two days after Soto spurned them.
“We’re trying to chase down that championship,” Boone stated, “and we feel like we’ve added a championship piece.”
