'They've got a good one': Fried stifles Red Sox after choosing Yanks

TAMPA, Fla. -- The warm applause that cascaded from the seating area toward the playing field in the fourth inning on Tuesday seemed mostly intended for Joe Torre, the Hall of Fame manager turning back the clock as he trudged in uniform to claim the baseball from Max Fried.

Fried seemed giddy with surprise as he greeted the man whose cool touch helped author a late-1990s dynasty, and the left-hander’s performance offered optimism about chapters yet to come. Fried turned in one of the sharpest outings by a Yankee this spring, blanking the Red Sox over 4 1/3 Grapefruit League innings in a 4-4 tie at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

“That’s who I am; I’m a ground-ball guy,” Fried said. “If I can get predominantly ground balls and get some weak contact, then things are going right.”

There is an alternate universe where Fried’s 68-pitch effort, in which he permitted just two hits and generated seven outs on the ground, might have landed on the other side of this historic rivalry. The Red Sox were among Fried’s most interested suitors this past winter, engaging the free-agent hurler on a lengthy Zoom call, as did the Yankees.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora came away impressed, enjoying an opportunity to peel back some of Fried’s on-field processes. Cora referred to a June 4 start last season at Fenway Park, where Fried adjusted early to Boston’s attack plan. Fried recorded a season-high 13 strikeouts that night, pitching his Braves to an 8-3 victory.

“He knows what he's doing,” Cora said. “He comes from an organization [where] that's what they do, right? They pitch. It was good to talk to him and understand what drives him and how he operates on the mound. He knew what he was talking about, because he mentioned our defense.

“It’s a guy that you’re going to put the ball in play, so you have to play defense behind him. We actually told him, ‘We’re going to be better defensively.’ [The deal] just didn't happen, but he’s a good kid that got rewarded. He’s been on the big stage, and he's been successful. So they’ve got a good one.”

The second-place offers for Fried reportedly came from the Red Sox and Rangers, who each offered seven years and $190 million. The Yankees, flush with cash and ready to spend after seeing Juan Soto sign with the Mets, came over the top with an eight-year, $218 million offer -- the largest deal ever for a left-handed pitcher.

“Everyone that I talked to was really great,” Fried said. “At the end of the day, I don’t know if I could really put my finger on it. It was just more of a gut feeling. I felt like this was the right place for me.”

Considering an injury-marred spring that has seen Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil removed from the rotation, and Clarke Schmidt questionable for the start of the season, the Yankees are thankful they made Fried the largest piece of their post-Soto pivot.

General manager Brian Cashman rejected a suggestion that the Yankees pursued Fried partly because of concerns about a recurrence of a Cole injury.

“No, our pursuit of Fried was with visions of having a nice combination there, just strengthening as many as you can in the front end,” Cashman said. “I’d feel a lot more comfort with those guys being able to consistently take the ball.”

That plan of a Cole-Fried duo atop the rotation will have to wait until 2026. For now, Fried is lined up to start the second game of the regular season on March 29, following Carlos Rodón’s Opening Day nod against the Brewers two days prior.

“Every time I watch him, I look at him like a hitter trying to face him,” manager Aaron Boone said of Fried. “It’s just hard to get a bead on him. He does so many things with the ball. … It’s hard for a hitter to zone in one thing. With the movement he gets, you understand why he puts the ball on the ground and serves up a lot of weak contact.”

Though Cashman recently said the Yankees “can’t afford to take too many more” hits in the pitching department, Cora isn’t about to count his division rival out, believing the Yanks will hunt “unfinished business” after settling for a pennant last autumn.

“They're a really good team, managed by one of the best in the business,” Cora said. “Yeah, Gerrit is out. But Gerrit was out last year, and they made it to the World Series. They’ve got Fried, they’ve got Rodón -- they’ve got veterans in that rotation. I think the bullpen is pretty solid; a lot of good changeups out there. … They're going to be OK.”