Braves must overcome biggest rivalry in sports if they hope to re-sign Max Fried

Keeping Max Fried around was always going to be a difficult task for Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves. The team has kept the door open all offseason, but given the fact that the team is already bumping up against the luxury tax — and how many pitching-needy teams there are around the league — it always seemed likely that the bidding for the Braves' former ace would eventually get steeper than Atlanta was willing to stomach.

And then Juan Soto poured a can of gasoline on the Hot Stove. Soto's decision to leave the New York Yankees and sign with the New York Mets on a massive 15-year, $765 million deal sent shockwaves around the baseball world. All the teams that whiffed on the superstar outfielder are now left scrambling, desperate to avoid leaving this offseason without making some sort of splash. That's bad news for any hopes the Braves may have had of keeping Fried, as a few of those teams are keenly interested in the lefty — and two in particular just so happen to really, really not like each other.

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Yankees-Red Sox rivalry could ignite huge Max Fried bidding war

With Soto off the board, both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have a giant pile of money burning a hole in their pocket. And it seems like both teams have landed on Fried as the next best place for it to go: While acknowledging that there's "widespread interest", Fansided MLB insider Robert Murray reported on the latest Baseball Insiders podcast that Boston and New York are hot on Fried at the Winter Meetings, with fellow AL East rival the Toronto Blue Jays also in the mix. (The Fried discussion starts at around the 13-minute mark of the video below.)

The Yankees and Red Sox already figured to be plenty motivated to get a Fried deal done. The other position players left on the market, from Alex Bregman to Pete Alonso, come with all manner of warts that could have execs thinking twice about handing them long-term deals. A pitcher like Fried seems like a far safer better, especially considering that Boston and New York could both use the rotation help.

And the fact that they'll be bidding against each other, with the loser facing a ton of heat from its fan base after whiffing twice to start the offseason, just figures to make the bidding even more intense. Brian Cashman and Craig Breslow know that if they don't meet Fried's asking price, there's a good chance they'll be facing him in the division every year for the next six or seven years, with each great start reminding them (and their fans) of what they missed out on. The impact options are dwindling fast, and Fried will be the beneficiary.

All of which leaves the Braves on the outside looking in. Again, Anthopoulos has likely been preparing for this outcome all winter long, and it's not like Atlanta's rotation will be left barren without a Fried reunion. But it's sure looking like Fried is going to get capital-p Paid this winter.