AL East Team Making Push for Braves FA Max Fried After Snell Signing

With Blake Snell of the board, this AL East team is making Max Fried their focus in their search for a lefty

This one AL East team won't quit on getting Max Fried / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers signing of Blake Snell is starting to create its domino effect. A fellow Snell pursuer, the Boston Red Sox, is now making their push for longtime Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried. 

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported it on X (formerly Twitter) late Tuesday night following the Snell signing. 

The Boston Red Sox, who were in on Blake Snell, now are focusing on Max Fried to upgrade their rotation.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 27, 2024

Boston’s interest in Fried isn’t new. Nightingale had mentioned they were looking at both Fried and Snell as recently as Monday. Throughout the last month, talk of Fried and the Red Sox has popped up in reports from ESPN’s Jeff Passan and the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. 

The prospects of bringing Fried back to Atlanta are looking as bleak as ever. Apart from the news that Fried rejected his qualifying offer, there haven’t been any rock-solid reports. One prediction came out saying he would return, but that’s it. 

In 168 appearances, 151 of those being starts, he has a 3.07 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP and 863 strikeouts. He’s made two all-star games, won three Gold Gloves and has received Cy Young Award votes twice. He was the runner-up to Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara for the Cy Young in 2022. 

Before Snell even signed, Fried was considered one of the top starters on the market. The word of the Sox pushing harder now shows the ball is beginning to roll for free-agent signings. 

Fried’s projected market value is a six-year deal worth around $136 million, according to Spotrac. However, it’s likely he’s going to net more than that. Some insider projections put it closer to $174 million. Here on Braves on SI, we had it up toward $180 million. 

But maybe it could get even higher. ESPN’s Buster Olney posted on X about the supply and demand this offseason for starting pitchers. It’s in favor of the available pitchers and they’ll reap the benefits.

“Team executives have talked about how there is so little volume of talent available at a time when there is a lot of need, pushing prices higher,” he wrote.  

Snell netting a $182 million contract over five years will also be a point of leverage now. Before, there was no reference point. That has now changed. 

With the Braves trying to stay under the luxury tax threshold, this is going to price out any hopes they have left pretty quickly.