"A lot of dog food" - Max Fried shares lighthearted plans after massive $218,000,000 Yankees contract

The New York Yankees have tied up Max Fried to one of the most lucrative contracts offered to a pitcher, inking an eight-year $218 million deal on Wednesday. Fried was asked what he would buy after signing the massive contract, and the 30-year-old, smilingly replied that the first thing that came to his mind was getting his dog a lot of food.

Max Fried was considered to be the best left-handed pitcher available at the free agent market this off-season, so the New York Yankees wasted little time in adding him to their roster after losing out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes.

Fried is one of the most efficient starting pitchers in the game and is coming off another solid campaign with the Atlanta Braves after making his second All-Star team this year.

The Yankees and Max Fried put pen to paper on the largest contract handed out to a left-handed pitcher this week. Fried offered a jovial take on his plans with the money he will earn during an interview at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.

"I think the first thing that kind of popped into my mind was probably just like getting my dog a bunch of dog food," he said.

The former Braves lefty is the owner of a three-year-old mutt, Apollo Fried. Contrary to popular belief, though, Apollo wasn't named after the famous character from the "Rocky" movies.

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"Winning is a big priority for me": Max Fried

Max Fried won the 2021 World Series with the Atlanta Braves (Image Source: Imagn)

The San Diego Padres selected Max Fried as the seventh overall pick of the 2012 MLB Draft before trading him to the Atlanta Braves two years later.

Fried made his MLB debut with the team in 2017 and established himself in their starting rotation within a couple of years. He won the 2021 World Series with the Braves and has finished in the top five for the Cy Young Award twice.

Fried expressed his desire to win titles as the chief reason why he chose to join the New York Yankees.

“Winning is a big priority for me,” he said. “Every single year the Yankees come to Spring Training, the number one goal is to win a World Series, to get to the playoffs. It’s not to do anything besides hold up the trophy at the end of the year.

“Knowing I was going to make a potentially long commitment, I wanted to be in a place that I knew I was going to be able to win, year in and year out.”

Max Fried has posted a 73-36 record over his career, with an excellent 3.07 ERA. He also has six complete games, including four shutouts, and has pitched at least 165 innings in each of the past five 162-game seasons.