Red Sox potential free agent target has impressive number versus AL East opponents
One free agent target that could lead the Red Sox rotation in 2025 and beyond is left-hander Max Fried.
With Blake Snell off the board and heading to the World Series champion Dodgers, Fried becomes the top lefty on the free agent market, and he owns impressive numbers against the American League East in his career.
Over his career, Fried has made 13 starts in the AL East, and in those starts, he’s recorded a 2.18 ERA, 2.76 FIP, 0.97 WHIP, 72 strikeouts with a 7.8 K/9, and a 1.9 BB/9 while holding opponents to a .213 batting average.
If the Red Sox were to add Fried to their rotation, he instantly becomes the No. 1 starter in the rotation that will feature Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Kutter Crawford. Boston will also get back Lucas Giolito next season; he is expected to vie for a spot at the backend of the rotation.
Speaking of Giolito, he has been heavily recruiting Fried to Boston, attempting to reunite the two who pitched on the same high school team.
While on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast, the 30-year-old has been making a sales pitch for him to come to the Red Sox.
“You think I haven’t already talked to him about it,” Giolito told WEEI’s Rob Bradford when asked about his potential pitch to Fried.
“Obviously, I think he would fit in great,” Giolito said. “Obviously, I think the need is there. You look at the starting pitcher depth chart and you don’t see a lot of ‘LHP’ and, in my opinion, he’s the best, most consistent starting pitcher. So, I think it’s a good fit. Obviously, I’m a little biased.”
Both Fried and Giolito played high school baseball together at Harvard-Westlake High School in California. The 30-year-old southpaw went 11-10 with the Braves during the 2024 season, posting a 3.25 ERA over 174.1 innings of work. The two-time All-Star had his best season with Atlanta in 2022, finishing second in NL Cy Young Award voting after going 14-7 with a 2.48 ERA.
There’s speculation that the Red Sox will not be finished tweaking their rotation and may add another arm via trade or another free agent before the offseason comes to an end.
