Fried declines qualifying offer as expected

In what was effectively a procedural move, left-hander Max Fried on Tuesday formally declined his qualifying offer. The Braves can still negotiate with Fried in free agency and have expressed interest in doing so.

The qualifying offer was a one-year, $21.05 million contract that Fried, who is seeking a multi-year deal on the open market, was never a realistic candidate to accept. Of the 13 players across the Majors to receive qualifying offers, only one -- Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez -- accepted.

Although Fried was never likely to take the one-year deal, the Braves offered it to him to ensure themselves Draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere. The left-hander is widely considered one of the four best starting pitchers on the open market, along with Corbin Burnes, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell.

Fried, 30, is coming off his second All-Star season, during which he was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts. He did miss time in July due to left forearm neuritis and has struggled to stay on the mound throughout his Braves tenure, landing on the injured list 11 times over the past seven seasons.

But Fried has been one of the top pitchers in baseball when healthy, ranking behind only Gerrit Cole with 71 wins since 2019. He’s also given the Braves some excellent postseason performances despite a checkered October track record overall.

“We’d love to have him back, but 30 teams would love to have Max Fried, right?” president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said last month. “We’ll see where that goes. These guys that become great players, rightfully so, they’ve earned the chance [to be free agents]. They become really sought after. But with Max, I’m a big fan.”