Braves have better chance at keeping Max Fried than you might think

It is amazing what a few months can. Whether it be the Atlanta Braves having a first half from hell, or the team's two starting rotation acquisitions of note pitching absolutely splendidly in Reynaldo Lopez and NL Cy Young front-runner Chris Sale, Max Fried's free agency stock has taken a hit. To be fair, he is still going to command quite a bit of coin, but for various circumstances, maybe not quite as much.

This would be tremendous for Atlanta. Under Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves front office is notorious for never paying out the wazoo for marquee players of note hitting free agency in and around 30. This is the team that let Freddie Freeman walk to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dansby Swanson to the Chicago Cubs. Anthopoulos has done it before, and he could do it again, but this might be different...

In Jeff Passan's way-too-early MLB free agency primer, he listed off several intriguing impending before Fried. We are talking about a guy who just went to the All-Star Game as part of one of the best rotations in baseball! Of course, Passan did say that while Fried is in elite company among the best starters in baseball since 2017, he does not strike out a ton of batters, nor does he eat up innings.

With Fried no longer being anyone else's first choice in free agency, I think he might actually return.

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Atlanta Braves seem way more likely to retain Max Fried in free agency

As it is with everything, nothing leaks out of Anthopoulos' front office unless he wants it to. Surely, plenty of other teams will mention they have been in contact with Fried's representation throughout the offseason. However, it does seem that Fried would be very interested in returning to the only MLB team he has ever played for. He may be a Los Angeles native, but he did win a World Series in Atlanta.

With Lopez, Sale, and now apparently rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, the Braves seem to be in a tremendous spot when it comes to their rotation, regardless of what Charlie Morton decides to do at the end of the season or how quickly Spencer Strider can return from his season-ending elbow injury. This has been a tough season for the Braves, but it has been a great one to watch if you love pitching.

Ultimately, I still operate under the principle of I will believe it when I see it when it comes to Fried re-upping with the Braves. Again, this was not the team who drafted him out of high school. That would be the San Diego Padres. There are few organizations in the same stratosphere as Atlanta. Surely, Fried and his representation know that. He may have to take a hometown discount to stay anyway.

However, I do wonder if Fried's market will be anything as close as to what we all thought it would be.