ATLANTA — Free agency begins the day after the World Series ends, at which point the Atlanta Braves will have five days to re-sign Max Fried if they have any serious interest in doing that before the left-hander is permitted to sign with any team. That five-day window is the exclusive period in which teams can retain their own free agents. After that, the players can sign with the highest bidder or any other suitor.
They can negotiate with any team during that window but must wait five days to sign with a new team. Advertisement There figure to be multiple teams interested in Fried, who’s a little older than ideal for a free-agent pitcher — he’ll be 31 in January — but is 71-31 with a 3.06 ERA in 145 regular-season games since the beginning of 2019, the second-most wins in that period behind Gerrit Cole (79-33, 2.
98 ERA). Age and injuries — a forearm strain that shelved him more than half of the 2023 season, forearm neuritis that put him on the IL for 2 1/2 weeks after he pitched in the 2024 All-Star Game, finger blisters, other nagging issues in past seasons — will be the factors that could keep Fried’s contract a little lower than those that some other pitchers of his ilk signed in recent years. But his consistent performance and reputation as a tireless worker, tremendous competitor and great teammate are intangibles that could help offset those concerns.
Those latter factors endeared him to teammates, coaches and other Braves officials. “It was phenomena.