MLB Insider expects ‘bidding war’ for free agent left-hander Max Fried
Free agent left-handed starter Max Fried is expected to receive a deal that could exceed $200 or more this week at the MLB Winter Meetings.
The Red Sox, Yankees, and Giants are all serious suitors, with Boston and New York expecting to land the southpaw, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
“The only drama is whether Fried goes ahead and signs before Burnes or lets Burnes set the bar,” wrote Nightengale. “Fried priced himself out of Atlanta but is expected to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. If Soto goes to the Mets, Fried could find himself in a nice bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.”
The lefty reportedly already met with teams on Zoom, including the Yankees, but it’s not clear whether the Red Sox were one of the teams to meet on Zoom.
Fried, who will turn 31 in January, isn’t an innings eater, having only pitched over 180 innings once in his career. The market for Fried will be robust. The Calif. native went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA and 166 strikeouts over 29 starts and 174.1 innings for Atlanta while making his second All-Star team last season.
Boston needs to add a top-of-the-rotation arm this winter, whether it’s in free agency or via trade. Fried would lead the Red Sox pitching staff that already includes Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Lucas Giolito.
There’s a connection between Giolito and Fried dating back to high school. Both pitchers pitched on the same high school team growing up and have discussed in the past possibly playing on the same team together again.
“We played high school ball together, and we always talked about how cool it would be if we were on the same team in the big leagues—which were legitimate conversations we would have when we were 17,” Giolito said of Fried to WEEI’s Rob Bradford back in October. “So, this is the shot to make it a reality right here.”
If the Red Sox miss out on Fried, they could pivot and turn to the White Sox and acquire fellow lefty Garrett Crochet, but the cost will be high. Boston has also reportedly offered Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu in deals to teams to try and land pitching for the club.
“The Red Sox have been open to using Casas as a trade chip for pitching help,” wrote The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “An executive for one American League club said the Sox offered Casas as a headliner in talks about one of that team’s arms, withholding Wilyer Abreu and the elite prospect group (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer) from the proposal.”
Boston has options, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has yet to strike and make a big deal to improve the Red Sox roster.
