Fried has ‘room to evolve’; Yanks not done ‘lifting’

NEW YORK — Max Fried may have commanded the richest contract for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history, but the New York Yankees believe there is room for improvement for the two-time All-Star.

“He’s had a lot of success, but there’s a level of improvability going forward, just with how the arsenal can be crafted and pulled apart, and there’s some room to evolve with us,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said Wednesday. “We like that.”

Fried was formally introduced at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday after agreeing to an eight-year, $218 million deal last week. He highlighted the organization’s advancements in analytics and history with developing pitchers as a selling point in his decision to sign with New York.

“They’ve got a lot of success stories of making guys a lot better,” Fried said. “And I think that just being able to take in the information and make some adjustments, as far as my pitch shapes and things to that extent, I think there’s still a little bit in there for me to hopefully do better.”

Fried, 30, gives the Yankees another front-line starter to pair with Gerrit Cole, another Southern California native, atop a rotation that was a team strength en route to the franchise’s first World Series appearance since 2009.

And the Yankees might not be done adding top-tier starting pitching.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said club officials are scheduled to meet with Japanese star right-hander Roki Sasaki “soon” in California. Sasaki, 23, is expected to draw interest from most, if not all, clubs because he will be forced to sign at a steep discount.

Sasaki would certainly have commanded a nine-figure contract on the open market, but he is considered an international amateur free agent, a designation that suppresses his earning potential, because he is under the age of 25 and didn’t play six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball before posting.

As a result, Sasaki will be limited to signing a minor-league deal within a club’s capped international bonus pool budget. Top bonus pools are around $7.5 million, though teams can trade for an additional 60% of its pool money.

Sasaki was posted by his Japanese club, Chiba Lotte, earlier this month, opening a 45-day window to sign with a team. He must wait to sign after the next international free agent signing period begins on Jan. 15 but can meet with teams before then. He has until Jan. 23 to sign with a team. If a deal is not reached, he would return to Chiba Lotte.

“He’s extremely talented, no doubt about it, and he has a chance to be one of the world’s greatest pitchers,” Cashman said. “It’d be nice to be able to have Yankee Stadium be his home.”

Fried chose the Yankees after posting a 3.07 ERA over parts of eight seasons with the Atlanta Braves to begin his major league career. He finished second in the NL Cy Young Award race in 2022 and won three Gold Glove Awards. He has pitched in the postseason in each of the past seven years despite various injuries limiting him to two seasons with at least 174⅓ innings pitched.

He entered the offseason as one of the three top starting pitchers on the free agent market, alongside Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes. but he did not expect the Yankees to show genuine interest.

That changed during a Zoom call with team officials last month. A connection was forged over the easygoing 90-minute session. Questions and answers flowed between the two sides. The Yankees got the sense that Fried thirsted to play in New York, and Fried became convinced that the organization was a fit.

“You just kind of get a feel for, like, all right, his guard’s down,” Cashman said. “He’s comfortable. He’s sharing. He’s not nervous. It was a good give-and-take. He was asking us questions about what makes us tick, how we go about our business. The takeaway was just that it was somebody easy to engage with, period, end of story. End of the day: good, genuine, authentic, honest individual who can really pitch.”

But there was a caveat to the Yankees’ pitch: They would only move forward with Fried if Juan Soto chose to sign elsewhere. Once Soto decided to join the New York Mets, the Yankees quickly pivoted to Fried, their No. 2 target in free agency.

“We’re just trying to chase down a championship and we feel like we’ve added a championship piece,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Fried was the first of three players added by the Yankees over the past week. The club also acquired reliever Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday and first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

Boone on Wednesday confirmed Williams will be the team’s closer next season. As for Bellinger, Cashman said that will depend on how the rest of the offseason plays out. For now, Bellinger — who can play first base, center field and left field — gives the Yankees flexibility in free agency and on the trade market as they seek to continue bolstering the roster after Soto’s departure.

“We’ve done some heavy lifting with Max, with Devin Williams, with Bellinger,” Cashman said. “But there’s more lifting to do.”