"Max Fried is a great mind for baseball" - Yankees catcher raves about the $218,000,000 free agent signing

Despite an active offseason, Max Fried might be the most important acquisition for the New York Yankees heading into the 2025 campaign. The former World Series champion with the Atlanta Braves signed a massive eight-year, $218,000,000 deal to make his way to the Big Apple.

The 31-year-old brings championship experience to a New York Yankees squad looking to make another deep postseason run. If the Bronx Bombers are going to potentially win their first World Series title since 2009, Max Fried will undoubtedly play a major role in their success.

Although the New York Yankees have several veterans on the roster such as Aaron Judge and Carlos Rodon, some of the team's younger players will certainly have an opportunity to learn from Max Fried.

This is something that 25-year-old catcher Austin Wells spoke about in an interview with New York Post Sports and MLB insiders Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman. Wells has been impressed with Fried's approach to the game and his baseball knowledge.

"Max is awesome. He's a great mind for baseball. He's always thinking about sequencing, how to attack guys, and always bringing up new ideas, which I think is pretty cool [19:54]," Wells explained.

Max Fried was tremendous yet again for the Atlanta Braves in 2024. En route to his second All-Star selection, Fried posted an impressive 3.25 ERA with a 1.164 WHIP and 166 strikeouts. If he can keep this level of production with the Yankees, Fried will undoubtedly play a key role for the team.

"I've been having alot of fun calling pitches for him so far in Spring Training. I think that he's going to have some great success with the Yankees. I know they think so too or else they wouldn't have given him the contract that they did. I'm looking forward to really catching for him for sure [20:08]" - Wells continued.

The New York Yankees will rely on Max Fried more than ever following Gerrit Cole's injury

Although Fried was going to be a major piece for the Yankees' success in 2025, he will be relied upon even more now that Gerrit Cole has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. The former AL Cy Young Award winner was forced to undergo Tommy John Surgery, ending his 2025 season before it even began.

Cole is not the only part of the team's pitching rotation who is dealing with injuries as both Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt are sidelined. Schmidt will return much sooner than Gil, but the Yankees are already dealing with plenty of adversity early this year.