As much as it made sense from a business standpoint, watching the Atlanta Braves let Max Fried walk in free agency still didn’t sit right. He came up through the Braves system, delivered in countless big moments, and was a key piece in some of the team’s most memorable games. Baseball is a business, sure — but that doesn’t mean losing him didn’t sting.
Fried was always a class act, and even after he signed his massive deal with the Yankees, most Braves fans weren’t rooting for him to fail. Would it have been nice if the Yankees fell flat while Fried looked merely decent? Sure. But he deserves a chance to succeed wherever his career takes him. That said, seeing him dominate through his first three starts in New York — while Atlanta stumbles out of the gate — brings some bittersweet feelings.
Max FriedFried has looked like an ace among aces so far, putting himself in the company of legendary Yankees like El Duque and even Rudy May — not exactly a name you’d expect to see pop up with 20+ strikeouts and a sub-2 ERA to open a season. Meanwhile, the Braves’ rocky start to 2025 is one most fans would like to block from memory.
It’s not that Atlanta didn’t expect Fried to be great — they did. The hesitation wasn’t about short-term performance, but how well a massive, $218 million contract would hold up over time. Committing over $31 million a year into Fried’s age-38 season was a risky bet, and the Braves chose not to make it.
Still, good for Max. Ideally, he’d be dealing in a Braves jersey, but fans aren’t lining up to root against him — unless the Yankees are playing Atlanta, of course. If he’s still shoving like this in 2029, though? That’s when Braves fans might really start to wonder why the front office didn’t pony up the cash themselves.
Leave a Reply