Red Sox Are Prime Fit For Projected $149 Million Braves Superstar Who 'Won't Be Back'

If that's the cost, should the Red Sox make an offer?

Sep 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried (54) tips his hat to the crowd after being removed from a game against the Kansas City Royals in the ninth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

As the Boston Red Sox close the book on their 2024 season, there's only one question on the minds of fans: How will Craig Breslow and the front office look to improve the pitching staff?

After the starting pitching wore down and the bullpen collapsed in the month of August, any solution is worth exploring for these Red Sox. Free agency, trades, even veteran reclamation projects; it's all on the table for a team a couple arms away from finally becoming a playoff contender.

Based on Breslow's answers in the season-ending press conference held Monday, it seems as though the Red Sox will focus their big spending, if there is any, on the starting pitching market. And the door seems open for one Atlanta Braves All-Star to make his way to Boston.

Left-hander Max Fried, who started the Braves' season-ending Wild Card loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, is now officially up for grabs. Cody Williams of FanSided predicted that Fried "won't be back" with the Braves in 2025, opening the door for the Red Sox to land their lefty ace.

"Fried is a free agent after the 2024 campaign and indications for more than a year have been that the Braves would have had to sign the lefty to an extension prior to the final season under club control if they wanted to retain him," Williams said. "No such deal came to fruition and, as such, the general assumption and belief has remained that another club could swoop in and take him away from Atlanta."

Fried, 30, has achieved about everything a big-league pitcher could dream of, short of a Cy Young Award. He's a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion, has a 73-36 career record with a 3.07 ERA, and he's a workhorse, with six complete games and four shutouts under his belt.

Signing Fried certainly won't come cheap. He is currently projected to earn $149 million on his next contract by Spotrac, and others have estimated that the price tag could be closer to $200 million. He's earned the right to cash in and won't likely take a discount to play for any specific team.

There may be no satisfying explanation for the Red Sox's minimal spending in the past, but bringing in Fried would go a long way toward justifying it. They reset the luxury tax, built the foundations of a homegrown rotation, and now, finally, they could land their veteran ace.

More MLB: Why Red Sox Are Not 'Likely' To Pursue Marquee Free-Agent Reliever, Per Insider