Max Fried’s priorities should feel like slap in the face to Braves fans

It's always painful getting over an ex. As great as Max Fried was as an Atlanta Brave – and they'll always have 2021, as his Instagram goodbye post suggests – watching him introduced as a Yankee was just plain weird.

Fried shaved his beard (assuming we can call the above facial hair), and went from a southern pitching artist to hedge fund manager in Manhattan. I mean, seriously, who is this guy?

Fried has the look of a guy who lived in New York once and won't stop talking about the world of finance, but deep down he's still the same guy. The Yankees offered him the most money, and who wouldn't want to play for the most historic franchise in the sport, even if it involves selling your soul just a little bit?

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One Max Fried comment has Atlanta Braves fans fuming

By all accounts, Fried said all the right things to the media after signing an eight-year, $218 million contract. The Yankees gave his family flowers at the press conference, as is tradition. He'll slide in quite nicely behind Gerrit Cole in the starting rotation. But how should Braves fans feel about all of this?

Not great, it turns out.

“Winning is a big priority for me,” said Fried. “Every single year the Yankees come to Spring Training, the number one goal is to win a World Series, to get to the playoffs. It’s not to do anything besides hold up the trophy at the end of the year. Knowing I was going to make a potentially long commitment, I wanted to be in a place that I knew I was going to be able to win, year in and year out.”

Well, what does that say about Atlanta?

The answer to that question is a complicated one. Fried would know better than most. While the Braves young stars are signed long-term, their farm system needs a rebuild of its own. Atlanta should be a playoff team next season, but lost in the Wild Card round and hasn't been active enough this winter to dramatically improve its chances – at least not yet.

Signing Fried would've been a step in the right direction, but their previous offers never came close to the $218 million behemoth deal the southpaw signed in New York.

Much of Fried's commentary was merely media-speak – you can tell he's been coached up by a PR staff – but it still stings for Braves fans.