The Atlanta Braves were one of the biggest underachievers in 2024. Injuries destroyed the top players on their team, but Atlanta still found a way to sneak into the postseason. Their season ended at the hands of the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card round.
Heading into the offseason, Atlanta has a few different moves to make to ensure it is competitive in 2025.
The top move is simply getting healthy, but beyond that, Atlanta is going to find itself in a bidding war to bring back homegrown hurler Max Fried.
Fried is now an unrestricted free agent and he’s set to receive a lot of interest this winter. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported there’s a trio of AL East teams already showing interest in the southpaw.
“The Orioles, Red Sox, and Blue Jays are all in on at least Fried. Boston is looking to upgrade its pitching and they don’t have a lefty, so Fried could make sense,” Heyman wrote.
Atlanta Braves Fried has spent his entire eight-year big league career with the Braves. Atlanta has been home to the southpaw ace for nearly a decade, so the Braves will have a bit of a leg up in negotiations.
Obviously, money rules everything in this world, so Atlanta will have to pay up if it truly wants to keep Fried in a Braves uniform. Due to the long-term, low-AAV contracts that Atlanta has on its books, money shouldn’t be a big issue here. It’ll come down to whether the Braves front office is stingy with their wallet.
Philadelphia PhilliesThe Philadelphia Phillies didn’t have very many holes on their roster this year, but the holes they did have were massive.
Philadelphia’s starting pitching rotation is loaded with talent, but its fifth starter was the biggest hole on the team. Taijaun Walker was un-pitchable down the stretch of 2024.
There would be no better way to fill that hole than to sign an NL East ace away from one of the Phillies’ biggest rivals. Fried to Philadelphia makes a lot of sense if you’re the Phillies.
New York MetsEvery top free agent and trade target will be on the New York Mets’ radar this winter. No player is too expensive for Steve Cohen and the Mets.
New York has faced Fried 23 different times for over 100 innings across Fried’s eight-year career. They’re familiar with each other and New York could throw Fried a boatload of cash to pull him away from Atlanta.
Boston Red SoxThe Boston Red Sox need a starter and they have a very tight connection to Fried already. Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito was a high school teammate of Fried’s.
Boston will likely spend the money to acquire an ace-level pitcher to lead its staff. Fried’s direct connection with Giolito could be just what Boston needs to bring Fried in.
Boston needs to be aggressive to keep up with the rest of the loaded AL East.
Baltimore OriolesAs Heyman noted, the Baltimore Orioles are already in on Fried. But Baltimore’s interest in Fried will likely completely depend on Corbin Burnes’ free agency decision. If Burnes is able to be brought back, the Orioles will be out on other top pitchers.
But the expectation is that Burnes will be headed elsewhere in free agency. If Baltimore loses Burnes, we could see the front office take a shot at a starter like Fried. With multiple other AL East teams interested in Fried, the Orioles could look to steal him from those teams.
Toronto Blue JaysThe Toronto Blue Jays did just about everything correctly in 2024 to set themselves up for success in 2025. Toronto wasn’t competitive, so it moved all of its expiring contracts to acquire prospects and clear money from its books.
Now Toronto needs to be very aggressive in free agency. The Blue Jays have a few good starting pitchers already but they need to add one or two arms in free agency.
Adding Fried would be the perfect move because Toronto would steal him right from under the Orioles and Red Sox’s nose.
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