DALLAS — Speaking two days after the Yankees’ plans and dreams were shattered by Juan Soto’s decision to switch boroughs, Aaron Boone considered the fallback options for a team that will not be able to reunite or replicate last season’s AL-best offense.
“There’s more than one way to build a team or skin a cat,” the Yankees manager said Tuesday from the Winter Meetings. “Maybe it allows you to be more defensive. Maybe it allows you to play in the pitching market more often.”
About four hours later, the Yankees demonstrated their altered vision to build another contender: If they cannot outslug opponents, they will hope to outduel them.
A rotation that already included ace Gerrit Cole added a second potential No. 1 in Max Fried, who agreed to an eight-year, $218 million contract, The Post confirmed, that is pending a physical.
Braves pitcher Max Fried (54) throws during the first inning of game two in the Wildcard round.USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Fried will get a full no-trade clause in a pact that has no opt-outs or deferred money.
The Yankees could not entice Soto to take their $760 million, and so they have pivoted toward constructing a rotation that they believe is potent and that they know is pricey.
Fried, Cole ($324 million) and Carlos Rodon ($162 million) boast contracts that total $704 million.
Fried becomes the owner of the largest deal given out to a lefty pitcher in baseball history, beating the $217 million contract that David Price earned in 2016.
Of the largest outlays handed to strictly starting pitchers in baseball history, the Yankees’ current rotation features the second-highest (Cole), fourth-highest (Fried) and 15th-highest (Rodon).
Max Fried #54 of the Atlanta Braves reacts on the mound against the New York Mets.Robert Sabo for NY Post
Fried, who turns 31 next month, spent his first eight seasons with the Braves. He has been an All-Star twice, twice finished in the top five in NL Cy Young voting and never posted a season ERA worse than 4.02.
When on the mound, he has at least been solid and at best — notably a 30-start, 2.48-ERA 2022 campaign — dominant.
The Yankees do not need to squint to imagine Cole and Fried dealing in the first two games of a playoff series. Fried — who has to reach back just to hit the mid-90s in velocity — is unlike the rest of the top of the Yankees rotation, relying more on craft and a seven-pitch mix and less on strikeouts.
Max Fried #54 of the Atlanta Braves reacts following the 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals.AP
There are real reasons to be concerned, though, about a pitcher who at times fought to stay healthy in his 20s and now will be asked to stay healthy in his 30s; who is coming off a relatively down season; and who has not excelled recently in the postseason.
Since 2019, Fried ranks 20th in the majors in innings pitched, making 30 starts in a season twice but having to deal with various injuries that have cropped up.
He has hit the injured list due to a blister four times. His 2023 season was a mess that included a hamstring strain, forearm strain and blister. He was placed on the IL once last season with left forearm neuritis.
The Yankees could cite the evidence Fried has bent but not broken: He required Tommy John surgery as a prospect but has not needed surgery as a major leaguer.
Good and bad signs can be found in his 2024 season, when he logged a 3.25 ERA in 29 starts — which are strong numbers but also his worst ERA in his past five seasons.
His year ended in the wild-card round, when he allowed five runs on eight hits in two innings to the Padres to highlight another concern.
Fried has pitched in October in each of the past seven seasons to varying success. Over his first 14 games and six starts, he held a 3.21 ERA.
In his six most recent postseason starts, he has let up 23 earned runs in 25 innings (8.28 ERA).
The Yankees are betting — a lot — this trend will turn around.
In the wake of Soto choosing the Mets, which occurred after Blake Snell and Willy Adames had signed elsewhere, the Yankees had to quickly formulate and carry out a Plan B that can give them another avenue toward a return trip to the World Series.
They are rolling the dice on potential aces in a rotation that will bear watching over the next few weeks or months.
With Cole, Fried, Rodon, Luis Gil, Nestor Cortes, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman, the Yankees have seven OK-to-excellent starting pitcher options, which gives them a strength perhaps to deal from.
The New York Post back page for Wedsnesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
In a starting pitcher market that has exploded, controllable pieces such as Gil and Schmidt would have great value.
Cortes, who will be a free agent after 2025 and is owed around $8 million, also would be attractive, while Stroman — due $18 million next season with a vesting option for 2026 — no longer looks untradeable.
