The Yankees' Pivot From Juan Soto Begins As They Sign Max Fried To An 8 Year $218M Deal And Give Their Starting Rotation A Massive Boost

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After missing out on Juan Soto, the big question now was how the Yankees would respond. What does Plan B entail? How quick would they act? Well, here comes Max Fried. 

My gut reaction? Thank god Carlos Rodon is no longer this team's number 2. A priority this offseason was shrinking his responsibilities. Max Fried solves that problem. 

If you're going to knock this signing, which people love to do when the Yankees get someone, you're going after the years. Eight for a guy on the wrong side of 30 is a ton, no doubt. AAV is more than reasonable, but it's long. Thing is, Boston was heavily in on Fried and if you're going to get a front line guy like this in the offseason you have to go above your comfort level. Fact of the matter is that Judge and Cole aren't getting younger. You can't worry about what Fried will look like when he's 37 or 38. You have to be aggressive right now. Now you're working with a Cole-Fried-Gil-Rodon-Schmidt rotation. If you need to do so in a massive trade you can dangle one of the younger guys as well and not be so impacted by it. 

Assuming his arm stays in one piece, Fried should age well. Unlike Burnes, he doesn't rely on power stuff to get by. He's a heavy ground ball pitcher as well (54.2%) and lives off of weak contact. That means the Yankees must make it a priority to address their infield defense. A good defensive first baseman is a priority. Hello Christian Walker. Jazz Chisholm can't be your starting 3rd baseman on Opening Day. Does that open the door for a Nolan Arenado trade? That definitely gives me severe pause since he's a league average bat at best now, but we know the two sides have been connected. I'd prefer to not go down that path, but it's definitely on the table. Possibly Hae Song Kim? However way you slice it, the defense has to be better in 2025 across the board. 

This cannot and will not be the end of the adds for the Yankees, but given the need to pivot quickly it's a good start. 

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P.S. For Boston fans, you were in on Fried but not enough. It's a Corbin Burnes mega contact for you or get ready to kiss some young players good bye for Crochet.