Max Fried donned his No. 54 Yankees jersey for the first time on Wednesday, as the left-hander was officially introduced as the newest member of the team’s starting rotation.
Fried, who turns 31 in January, signed his eight-year, $218 million deal on Wednesday, and it’s clear that he comes to the Yanks with both a reverence for the past and a desire to be a part of a winning future.
“Being a baseball fan, you know what it means, or you know the standard that the Yankees hold. Putting on the pinstripes, there’s a certain responsibility and expectation that comes with that, and I’m extremely excited to take that on,” Fried said, explaining that he felt “a sense of pride” as he put on the jersey for the first time.
“A lot of people have worn these pinstripes, and there’s a certain feel, and I’m excited to be able to put the pinstripes on in Yankee Stadium for the Yankees. It’s one of the most storied, winning franchises in sports, and I want to be able to kind of do my part in adding to that.”
Since making his debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2017, Fried, a former first-round pick by the San Diego Padres, has been a winner, pitching to a 3.07 ERA while making the postseason seven times, including in 2021 when he made five postseason starts for the World Champion Braves.
“Winning is a big priority for me,” Fried said. “At the end of the day, every single year the Yankees come to spring training, the No. 1 goal is to win the World Series. It’s not to get to the playoffs, it’s not to do anything but hold up the trophy at the end of the year. Knowing that I was going to make potentially a long commitment, I wanted to be in a place that I knew I was going to be able to win year in and year out. I love playoff baseball and I love to be able to have meaningful baseball at the end of the year, and the Yankees are an organization that are going to do that year in and year out.”
Fried said that he was initially “fairly surprised” to learn of the Yankees’ interest, but explained that “when the Yankees say that they’re interested in you, you perk up and you listen.”
And as he walked through his new home park at E 161st street and River Ave, there was something about the clubhouse that reaffirmed his decision to sign with the team.
“There’s three words that were put up on the wall, and it’s ‘prepare,’ ‘compete,’ and ‘win,’ and I thought a lot about that. To me as a competitor, and just to me at the core as a player, it really resonated with me,” said Fried. “Before I take the ball I’m going to prepare as best as I can, when I’m out there I’m going to leave everything out there and compete to the best of my abilities, and at the end of the day, the one thing that we’re out here to do is to win. For me, I couldn’t be more excited to be here, part of the Yankees and part of this organization, and I can’t wait to get down to Tampa and get started.”
There have been plenty of cases over the years of good players coming to New York only to struggle, with the bright lights of the Big Apple seemingly not being for everyone. But Fried said that he welcomes the added pressure.
And while he’s pitched at Yankee Stadium once before, throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball this past June, he explained that he’s never actually been able to pitch under those bright lights, and that’s something he’s very much looking forward to doing for the next eight years.
“There’s no bigger stage than pitching in New York,” Fried said. “I’ve been here for a couple of series, I got to throw my first time last year, and I’m still looking to feel what that feels like to throw under the lights, because I got a Sunday day game. I’m really excited, but there’s a different feel when you step into the stadium. There’s an energy and a buzz and I can’t wait to kind of feed off of that.”
