“Best thing the Yankees could have done,” Braves legend John Smoltz backs NY Yankees for signing Max Fried after losing out on Juan Soto

MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz has backed the New York Yankees for signing Atlanta Braves star Max Fried after losing out on Juan Soto.

“Best thing the Yankees could have done,” Braves legend John Smoltz backs NY Yankees for signing Max Fried after losing out on Juan Soto

Max Fried, John Smoltz and Juan Soto (Image via SI/Larry Brown Sports/Bleacher Report]

The New York Yankees received a major blow on Sunday when they lost out on Juan Soto. The 4-time All-Star picked the New York Mets above them. A few days later, the Bronx Bombers softened that blow by landing in ace pitcher Max Fried. Atlanta Braves legend John Smoltz has now backed the Yankees for this signing.

In the midst of the Soto sweepstakes, the team was working on sorting out their pitching department as well. The AL East side was in talks with Blake Snell. However, due to their involvement in the Soto chase, they ended up losing the 2x Cy Young Award winner.

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After losing out on Snell and Soto, the Yankees shifted their gears. The team snatched Fried from the free agency market on an 8-year $218 million deal. This is the biggest contract offered to a left-handed pitcher in the history of the league.

This will mark the end of an 8-season stay with the Braves for Fried. As for John Smoltz, he thinks the signing of Fried could be pivotal for the Yankees going forward.

I thought that’s the best thing the Yankees could have done. I think when you lose and you’ve got that ‘oh my gosh’ feeling… Yankees fans are like, ‘we didn’t sign (Juan) Soto, now what? Well, now I think they’re going to be able to do multiple things… Max Fried…he’s an elite pitcher. Instead of the Yankees always trying to out-score everybody, I think they’re gonna run-prevent people.

John Smoltz said on Foul Territory

The 2024 season was a mixed one for Max Fried. The 2-time MLB All-Star went 11-10 in his 29 starts and had an ERA of 3.25. He picked up 166 strikeouts and gave up 146 hits in the 174.1 innings he pitched this year.

NY Yankees reportedly targeting former NL MVP Cody Bellinger

After losing out on Juan Soto, the New York Yankees have started working on Plan B. The team are aggressively looking at multiple free agents and trying to get into trade talks with others. Another name that has shown up on that radar is Cody Bellinger.

Cody Bellinger
Cody Bellinger (Image via ESPN)

The 2019 National League MVP is one player the team is interested in bringing to the Bronx. As per reports from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, a major issue in this trade deal is the amount of money.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers star has $52.5 million remaining over two years. The Cubs do not want to eat any of the salary of Bellinger. Despite this, there has been some progress regarding this talks on Wednesday according to Heyman.

Apart from him, the Yankees have also expressed interest in bringing in Kyle Tucker to the team. However, as an anonymous MLB insider, the team has not offered anything significant so far for the Houston Astros to even consider the deal. It will probably take a while for the Yankees to land one of them.