Braves brass clears air on Max Fried’s departure to Yankees for $218M

Atlanta Braves' general manager and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos shed light on former team star Max Fried's transfer to the New York Yankees. The baseball executive shared that letting go of a player with the caliber of Fried was a tough call but was necessary for the Braves to move forward.

After eight seasons in Atlanta, the Yankees gave the lefty hurler with the richest contract ever given to a left-handed pitcher valued at $218 million that will keep him in the Bronx until 2032.

"Ultimate, we got to make tough decisions. You'd love to have all these guys but [the question is] what can you put around them? We love players [such as] Travis d'Arnaud and Max Fried. They were great mainstays for the Braves ... There's only so much pie to go around," said Anthopoulos. (33:21-34:01)

Anthopoulos shared his thoughts about Fried's departure in "The Show: A NY Baseball podcast" hosted by Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman. The executive further added that given the financial situation of a team like the Braves, the front office could only retain a few players from the team's core to prevent from overspending.

"He got an unbelievable contract and New York got a great starter. We lost a great player but our other players are now going to get their opportunities. We're grateful with the success we had with Max [Fried] and for what he did here. But we're always trying to balance putting a team together and making the payroll fit." (34:08-34:42)

Braves GM lauds Max Fried after brilliant start with Yankees

At the time of writing, Max Fried is one of the favorites to claim the American League Cy Young. The Yankees' latest acquisition is currently off to a dream start with a 6-0 record across ten starts and a 1.29 ERA that merited him the first AL Pitcher of the Month honor for 2025.

In response to this and as a continuation to his guesting on the aforementioned podcast, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos couldn't help but praise his former player for his stellar play.

"I'm thrillied for him. I told him that he's going to have an opportunity to be in the postseason basically every single year of his career ... [I] can't say enough good things about him. He was great from a front office standpoint and represented the organization very well." (30:00-30:44)

During his time with the Braves, Max Fried garnered a World Series title, two All-Star selections, three Gold Glove Awards, and an All-MLB First Team selection.