The Atlanta Braves have had no problem letting franchise icons walk in free agency when they feel the price to re-sign them is too steep, and for the most part, they've been right to do so. Dansby Swanson is still an elite defender, but is he really worth the $177 million the Chicago Cubs gave him? Freddie Freeman is still an unbelievable hitter, but the Braves replaced him with Matt Olson, who is younger, cheaper and, to be completely honest, better at this point in their respective careers.
Max Fried is another player the Braves let walk after the 2024 season, and while it was understandable not to want to pay him the $218 million he got from the New York Yankees, that's feeling like a mistake. As Atlanta gets set to take on its former ace in the Bronx on Friday night, let's dive into why.
Max Fried remains one of MLB's elite starting pitchers
Fried developed into one of the best starting pitchers in the National League during his time with the Braves, and all he's done since arriving in the Bronx is improve. He had a 2.86 ERA in 32 appearances and 195.1 innings of work in 2025, and has a 3.12 ERA in 13 starts in 2026. The Yankees have gone an impressive 29-16 when he's started for them over the last two years.
Fried's 2.93 ERA ranks seventh among the 56 pitchers with at least 250 innings since he signed with New York. His 2.90 FIP is fifth, and his 7.3 fWAR is eighth. No matter how you slice it, he's been one of the 10 best starting pitchers in the league when healthy since arriving in New York. Wouldn't that be a good thing for the Braves to have kept?
The Braves have done nothing to replace Max Fried
Letting Fried walk is understandable, but shouldn't the Braves then have a backup plan? They replaced Freeman with Olson before Freeman even signed with the Dodgers. Dansby Swanson's immediate replacement, Orlando Arcia, was an All-Star in his first season as Atlanta's starter (even though things imploded after that).
But the Braves haven't made a single notable starting pitching addition since letting Fried walk. In Alex Anthopoulos' defense, the other notable options in the 2024 free agency class (Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Nick Pivetta, Nathan Eovaldi, etc.) haven't pitched as well and/or have been hurt, but that speaks to the need to simply re-sign Fried in the first place.
Atlanta did not meaningfully add to its rotation in 2025 or 2026 since losing Fried, and the results show that was a mistake. Bryce Elder led the team with 156.1 innings last season, and he pitched to a 5.30 ERA. Elder has been better in 2026, but he still leads the Braves in innings pitched. Grant Holmes and Martin Perez rank within the top four this season. They've both exceeded expectations, but is that good enough come October?
The guys Anthopoulos has relied on to take the reins are essentially an older and oft-injured Chris Sale, oft-injured Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach and converted reliever Reynaldo Lopez. It sure would be nice to have a reliable starter in the middle of his prime like Fried take the ball every fifth day.
The Braves do not have a viable No. 2 starter to compete in the National League
The Braves' bullpen is as good as anyone's, and their lineup is excellent when healthy, but this rotation is beyond iffy. Sale is obviously still elite even at his advanced age, but who would their Game 2 starter be in a playoff series right now? Elder? Perez? Holmes? Relying on Schwellenbach and Strider to be healthy, as Anthopoulos has clearly done, obviously hasn't been wise.
Fried's postseason resume is far from perfect, but Braves fans are quick to forget that he threw six scoreless innings in Atlanta's World Series clincher in 2021 and had three quality starts in five postseason appearances that year. I'm not sure they win that World Series without him.
The Dodgers have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal. The Brewers have Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison. The Phillies have Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez. Who is the Braves' No. 2 to compete with these guys after Sale?
Max Fried's injury scare isn't enough to justify Braves decision to let him walk
Fried's injury history probably played a role in Atlanta's decision to let Fried walk, and to be fair, the southpaw did deal the Yankees an injury scare when he landed on the IL with a bone bruise on his pitching elbow earlier this season. As scary as that was, though, he was pitching well prior to the injury, and while he missed a couple of months, he has a 2.70 ERA and a 1.30 FIP in his three starts since returning. He's been even better, and should be fresh for the stretch run.
Max Fried since returning from the IL:
— Ryan Garcia (@RyanGarciaESM) August 7, 2026
36% K% | 2.70 ERA | 1.30 FIP | 48.1% GB% pic.twitter.com/OHmotxtMCZ
Don't get me wrong: There's still plenty of risk with Fried, who is a 32-year-old in only year two of a massive eight-year deal. The fact that there has already been an injury scare isn't great. Odds are, he the back half of this contract could get ugly
With that being said, the Braves are in a window to compete right now. Letting Fried walk, only to not replace him and not spend the money he'd have made, has made it harder for them to compete. Atlanta misses him dearly, and until Anthopoulos adds a legitimate 1B to throw alongside Sale, that'll continue to be the case.
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