LHP Max Fried agrees to $218 million, 8-year contract with Yankees

Last updated: 2024/12/10 at 11:19 PM

BigP Published December 10, 2024

Max Fried and the New York Yankees have agreed to a $218 million, eight-year contract, the largest deal for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the agreement, first reported by ESPN, was subject to a successful physical.

New York made the move two days after outfielder Juan Soto left for a pending $765 million, 15-year contract with the rival Mets.

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Fried, who turns 31 in January, gets the fourth-highest contract among pitchers behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million), the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole ($324 million) and Washington’s Stephen Strasburg ($245 million), who hasn’t pitched since 2022 and has retired. Fried broke the mark for lefties set by David Price at $217 million.

Fried joins a potential rotation that already included Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman.

Fried spent his first eight seasons with the Braves, making the All-Star team in 2022 and 2024. He had his first big season in 2019, finishing 17-6 with a 4.02 ERA.

He was 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, finishing fifth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. The three-time Gold Glove winner had his best season in 2022, going 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA.

Fried was 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA in an injury-hampered 2023 season, then was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts this year.

The right-hander was the seventh overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft by San Diego and was traded in a 2014 in the deal that sent Justin Upton to San Diego.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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