Braves fans have one clear message to Alex Anthopoulos after Max Fried's career night

Max Fried is going to hit free agency in 2025 if the Atlanta Braves don't lock him into an extension between now and the end of the season. Fans are begging Alex Anthopoulos to get the deal done.

Fried keeps giving Atlanta every reason they need to give him a lucrative new contract. On Tuesday, he made his case with a career night.

Facing the Boston Red Sox, Fried dealt 13 strikeouts in seven innings, breaking his previous career high of 11.

Braves fans watched the performance and had three words on their mind: Extend. Max. Fried.

Braves fans beg Alex Anthopoulos to extend Max Fried

Fried is on the wrong side of 30 as of January and Braves have made a habit of letting their biggest free agents walk, usually replacing them with cheaper or younger options. If Atlanta could let Freddie Freeman go, then literally anyone could be let go.

Still, elite pitching doesn't grow on trees and it rarely comes cheap. The Braves have a strong rotation, when healthy, but Charlie Morton is only getting older and Chris Sale has a worrisome injury history. Holding onto Fried as the jewel of the pitching staff makes complete sense from a performance perspective if Atlanta can stomach the financial aspects of it all.

The bonus of extending Fried now is getting ahead of even better performances. If he keeps this up, he'll price himself out of a return to Atlanta.

Theoretically, the Braves could entice Fried's signature by matching or topping the contract Aaron Nola got from the Phillies: seven years, $172 million. Nola will be making $24.6 million per year.

The longer they way, the more the Braves risk letting Fried's salary demands reasonably rise above $30 million per year.

The fans certainly think Fried has earned whatever contract he wants, whatever keeps him in Atlanta.