New Braves teammate backs Max Fried's contract extension argument

The Atlanta Braves pulled off a bit of a surprising trade this offseason, acquiring Chris Sale from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for talented infielder Vaughn Grissom. It's a bit of a risk considering Sale's extensive injury history but make no mistake. If he's healthy, the Braves have a top three in their rotation that nobody will want to face with Sale joining Spencer Strider and Max Fried.

The offense is what most people talk about when discussing Braves baseball, and for good reason. They're historically great. However, the pitching cannot be scoffed at, and Fried is a major reason why.

The southpaw has spent all seven of his MLB seasons in Atlanta and has blossomed into one of the best pitchers in the National League when healthy. Fried has a sparkling 2.66 ERA since 2020 which ranks second in the majors among qualified starters only behind Justin Verlander. That kind of pitcher is one that Braves fans and teammates obviously would want to stay with the team for as long as possible. Sale emphasized that early in his Braves tenure, calling for an extension.

Chris Sale, like all Braves fans, wants the Braves to extend Max Fried

Sale knows how important Fried is to this team. He's one of the longest-tenured Braves and is, again, one of the best pitchers in the league. Keeping him in Atlanta sounds great, but also might be unrealistic.

Fried is entering his final season of team control. After the 2024 season, he's slated to hit free agency. An extension would change that, obviously, but Sale should not expect to see one coming. That's simply not how GM Alex Anthopoulos operates.

Anthopoulos is known for signing his players to extensions early in their careers. Sure, they come with a little risk as players can flame out after only a short period of success, but they can also make the contracts look like the most valuable deals in sports. Extensions for players like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies years ago look like absolute bargains.

Extensions for players who are close to free agency, however, are rare for Anthopoulos. The Braves have been able to build the juggernaut that they have because they have players on their roster for under market value. Fried signing now would certainly not come cheap.

The Braves have shown multiple times that when players approach or hit free agency, they're fine just letting them walk and replacing them. They let Freddie Freeman go after winning the World Series and replaced him with Matt Olson. They let Dansby Swanson go the year after and replaced him with Orlando Arcia who was an All-Star last season.

Barring Fried taking a massive pay cut, the Braves will presumably let him go this offseason and replace him with a cheaper starter. It might not be what Sale wants to hear, but with how successful Anthopoulos has been, it's impossible to question his methods.