Braves insider sees "Carlos Rodon type money" attainable for Max Fried in free agency, but doubts Atlanta offering a $30,000,000 AAV deal

Max Fried is one the star free agent starting pitchers that teams are looking to sign this offseason. The Atlanta Braves were unable to lock him up and seems like they will have a tougher task of stopping him from signing elsewhere.

As per hosts, Jake Mastroianni and Grant McAuley, on the Locked on Braves podcast, the 30-year-old will get a good deal considering his career record of 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA.

However, McAuley also pointed out that while the deal will be somewhat similar to the six-year, $162 million Carlos Rodon signed with the New York Yankees, the Braves, who are known to not go heavy for free agent signings, will not go anywhere close to a $30 million annual average value deal.McAuley said (8:00):

"I think Max is going to have a really good market. I think it's only going to take two or three really aggressive suitors to get him into that Carlos Rodon-type money. Uh, I know some folks look at him and feel like, 'Oh well, maybe he was a little bit injury-prone in 2023,' but I feel like that was kind of an outlier.

"I know we had to battle through some stuff each and every year, but if you stack Max Fried's resume and his numbers up against just about any free agent pitcher that's going to be out there, side of Corbin Burnes, he's going to command, I think, a pretty hefty paycheck."

McAuley added:

"And I'm just not sure that the Braves are going to get into that $30 million AAV for even a guy like Max Fried that they know really well. I think they're going to try to find a way to take those funds and maybe reposition that into a couple of different moves."

ESPN insider lists favorites to sign Max Fried

As per David Schoenfield of ESPN, the Texas Rangers are the favorites alongside the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign Max Fried's services. The Rangers had a battered pitching staff all throughout 2024 with three of their starters on their way to free agency. Fried's $136 million market value for a six-year deal gives them an ideal scenario.

Like the Rangers, the Red Sox need starters even though they got the seventh-best rotation ERA of 3.81 this year. Boston has had three consecutive non-winning seasons and need an ace to steer it toward success. As for the Dodgers, no one can count them out from making any signing anymore. They can use Fried as a third or fourth starter.