Max Fried free agent connection is nightmare fuel for Braves fans

The Atlanta Braves are in danger of missing the postseason, an outcome that would have been unfathomable a few short months ago. The 2024 campaign has been one obstacle after another for the Braves, beset on all sides by injuries and rotten luck. Of Atlanta's eight All-Stars a year ago, precisely zero made the All-Star team this season. All eight have either slumped at career-worst levels or suffered prolonged injury absences.

We don't have to dig deep for silver linings — Chris Sale is about to win his first Cy Young award, Reynaldo Lopez has been a total revelation, and Marcell Ozuna might get MVP votes — but the Braves are built to contend at the highest level. To not even play in October would be a profound failure, even if it's impossible to blame the front office or the players for the deluge of diffcult circumstances.

It also adds an extra layer of intrigue and uncertainty to the upcoming offseason. Atlanta will have a few key free agents, none more important than two-time All-Star Max Fried. The talented southpaw has been up to his usual tricks this season, posting a 3.49 ERA and 1.203 WHIP through 27 starts.

Atlanta has long struggled to get on the same page with Fried in contract negotiations. Now, rubber meets the road, and there's a hard deadline on courting the 30-year-old back to Braves Country. Atlanta has not been a team to spend top dollar in free agency in the past, but Fried's market could expand and explode quickly with such a pressing need for postseason-caliber starting pitchers around the league.

One obvious connection to a National League rival could prove especially difficult for Braves fans to stomach.

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Max Fried and the Dodgers almost feel destined for one another

Fried's SoCal roots are well documented. He was born in Santa Monica and went to Harvard-Westlake High School, where he was teammates with Jack Flaherty, as pointed out by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

One of the main storylines from this season's trade deadline was Flaherty's return home. He was acquired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a swap that netted the Detroit Tigers a handful of prospects. The hard-throwing righty has excelled since arriving in LA, posting a 3.40 ERA and 1.27 WHIP across nine starts. He's one of the few reliable arms in a Dodgers bullpen ravaged by injuries. If there is a clear area of need for baseball's most expensive and talented roster, it's pitching.

Fried would plug right into a Dodgers rotation that could look unbeatable by next season. Let's assume that Flaherty sticks around in free agency. Even if Clayton Kershaw leaves, LA should have a healthy Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as well as a fresh-armed Shohei Ohtani in his return to pitching. Add Fried to the mix, and suddenly the Dodgers' weaknesses are few and far between.

The ability to return home and play for a contender could be too much for Fried to pass up, especially if the Dodgers mount a sizable offer. Los Angeles is bound to be mentioned in connection to other high-profile free agents on the mound — Corbin Burnes, Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell — but after shelling out over $1 billion in free agency a season ago, the Dodgers may be tempted to keep their spending out of the stratosphere this time around.

Fried won't come cheap, but he also won't command Gerrit Cole money, as Burnes might. He is affordable by the Dodgers' inflated standards and he's a perfect fit, both skill-wise and culture-wise, for this LA sqaud.

The Braves fandom sure wants Fried back — it's hard to imagine the Atlanta rotation without him — but beware, because the Dodgers are lurking.