The Boston Red Sox are back to being the interest kings. Wednesday, there was a report that the Red Sox have reached out to top free agent Juan Soto, yesterday the interest continued as it was reported that they are interested in Max Fried as well as other American League East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees. Fried played his high school baseball with Lucas Giolito who will be in the Red Sox rotation in 2025, both also flew to Los Angeles for the World Series to see other former teammate Jack Flaherty pitch.
LHP – Max Fried
The 30-year-old, 6-4 190lb Santa Monica, California native will be entering his ninth big league season, he spent all of his time with the Atlanta Braves, he was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. He was acquired by the Braves in December of 2014 in the trade that sent Justin Upton to San Diego. He’s made 168 career appearances with 151 of those coming as starts going 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA, a 3.29 FIP, a 1.16 WHIP, a 0.7 HR/9, a 2.5 BB/9, and an 8.8 K/9 in 884.1 innings. In 2024 he made 29 starts going 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA, a 3.33 FIP, a 1.16 WHIP, a 0.8 HR/9, a 2.9 BB/9, and an 8.6 K/9 in 174.1 innings. In his career at Fenway Park, he is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts in 12 innings. In his career against the other four American League East teams, he is 8-2 with a 2.04 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP, and 54 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. He is a World Series champion, a three-time gold-glove award winner, and a two-time All-Star.
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Bottom Line: Get It Done
The Boston Red Sox need pitching especially an ace-caliber type pitcher like Fried as well as they need a left-handed starter something they lacked in 2024. This is the kind of pitcher that just makes so much sense for the Red Sox and maybe Giolito can be the type of guy to convince him to sign in Boston. It seems like after last season of the “Full Throttle” comment they are actually going to spend money this offseason, but we will have to wait to see it to believe it.
