MLB rumors: Dodgers among threats to sign Max Fried away from Braves
The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to be involved in a pursuit of every major free agent this offseason; that long list includes former Atlanta Braves LHP Max Fried, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
“Max Fried, left-handed starter: He’s exactly the sort of pitcher the Red Sox would like to anchor their rotation as their ascent back to contention begins. Toronto is in. San Francisco and Baltimore will be part of the mix, too. And don’t forget the Dodgers, who are targeting at least one high-end starter. Fried, 31 on Opening Day, looks likely to get the second-largest guarantee for a pitcher this winter after posting a major-league-best 2.81 ERA over the past five seasons.”
Fried regressed ever so slightly last season, but that says more about how great he was over the last five seasons. In 2024, he pitched 174.1 innings over 29 games with a 3.25 ERA and 1.164 WHIP. Fried has delivered at least a 2.6 WAR every season since 2019, including a 3.5 WAR last season.
Dodgers’ starting rotation overflowing
Who will make up the Dodgers’ starting rotation in 2025? Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, River Ryan, Gavin Stone and Justin Wrobleski are under contract. Clayton Kershaw declined his player option for 2025 and underwent foot and knee surgeries earlier this month. Wrobleski and Miller were optioned to the minor leagues in September. Roki Sasaki looks like he could be joining the Dodgers. Walker Buehler is in talks with a potential deal. Jack Flaherty could return. They can’t all come back, can they?
The Dodgers have been linked to Garrett Crochet, Blake Snell, and Fried.
This doesn’t even consider all the everyday players available, most notably former New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto. Flaherty believes Soto could earn over half a billion dollars in his upcoming contract.
“(Juan Soto) should make $600 million. He’s 26, you look at what Bryce made, $330M. It’s the same type of timeline. Bryce should’ve made more money, but that was, I don’t know how many years ago that was, but now you fast forward, you’ve got Juan Soto. Just based on everything else, I mean he should make $600 million.”
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes laid out the team’s lofty expectations right after winning the World Series.
“Our goal every single year is to win a championship,” Gomes said. “Obviously, we’ve had amazing support from our ownership group year in and year out to do that. They’ve always been there to take big swings when we’ve felt like we needed to and this year is gonna be no different. We’re ready to go out and the goal is now to go out and pout together another championship-caliber team.”
The Dodgers have to spend money to make money and that’s exactly what casting a wide free-agent net will accomplish. All of Major League Baseball is on notice to break out their checkbooks.
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