It would have been unthinkable just a few short months ago that the Atlanta Braves would not make it to the postseason. For the Braves, the 2024 season has been a never-ending struggle due to injuries and bad luck. Exactly zero of Atlanta’s eight All-Stars from the previous season were selected for the All-Star team this year. All eight have either had extended injury absences or dropped to career-worst levels.
The Braves are designed to compete at the highest level, so we don’t need to go far for bright spots—Chis Sale is poised to win his first Cy Young award, Reynaldo Lopez has been nothing short of amazing, and Marcell Ozuna may receive MVP votes. Even if it’s hard to hold the players or front staff accountable for the abundance of challenging conditions, missing any games in October would be a grave failure.
It also gives the forthcoming offseason an additional degree of mystery and unpredictability. Among the few significant free agents available to Atlanta is two-time All-Star Max Fried. With 27 starts this season, the gifted southpaw has been right on track, recording a 3.49 ERA and 1.203 WHIP.
In their contract negotiations, Atlanta and Fried have never been able to come to an agreement. It’s crunch time, with a strict deadline to entice the 30-year-old back to Braves Country. Although Atlanta has not historically been a team to spend a lot of money in free agency, Fried’s market might grow rapidly given the league’s dire need for starting pitchers capable of winning postseason games.
Braves supporters may find it particularly difficult to accept one clear link to a National League opponent.
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The Dodgers and Max Fried seem to be meant to be together.
Fried has a long history in Southern California. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, he was a teammate of Jack Flaherty at Harvard-Westlake High School after attending Santa Monica as a student.
Flaherty’s homecoming was a major plot point from this season’s trade deadline. In exchange for a few prospects, the Detroit Tigers received him from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since coming to Los Angeles, the hard-throwing righty has performed admirably, amassing a 3.40 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in nine appearances. He is one of the few trustworthy pitchers in a bullpen full of injured Dodgers pitchers. Pitching is the one position on baseball’s most expensive and skilled roster that is obviously lacking.
By the next season, the Dodgers rotation might appear unbeatable with Fried in it. Assuming Flaherty continues to exist in free agency. In addition to Yoshinobu Yamamoto and a healthy Tyler Glasnow, LA should have a formidable Shohei Ohtani in his return to the mound, even in the event that Clayton Kershaw departs. When Fried is included, the Dodgers’ vulnerabilities become extremely rare.
Fried could be unable to resist the chance to play for a contender after returning home, particularly if the Dodgers make a substantial offer. Los Angeles will undoubtedly be linked to other well-known free agents on the mound, such as Corbin Burnes, Roki Sasaki, and Blake Snell. However, the Dodgers might be inclined to refrain from overspending this time around after forking over over $1 billion in free agency the previous season.
Although Fried won’t be inexpensive, he also won’t demand the same salary as Burnes from Gerrit Cole. He is a great match for this LA squad both culturally and skill-wise, plus he is reasonably priced by the inflated standards of the Dodgers.
The Braves fan base undoubtedly wants Fried back because it’s difficult to envision the Atlanta rotation without him, but the Dodgers could surprise you.
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