TAMPA — There’s naturally some serious lament over the breakup of the all-time great Juan Soto-Aaron Judge hitting combo here. The Yankees are the first and maybe the last team to bid $760 million for a player and still lose, so if anyone thinks there isn’t severe disappointment, they don’t know human nature or, frankly, many humans.
Soto’s departure upset the Yankees, but didn’t prevent them from responding quickly, and their pivot to pitching was as effective as it was decisive. Less than two days later, they gave Max Fried the largest contract ever bestowed on a left-handed pitcher, a $218M, eight-year deal that gave the Yankees a new and great one-two combo, this one a mound tandem that goes a long way toward stamping them again as American League favorites.
It’s hard to know why a decent-sized market like Atlanta, with one of the best-run organizations, never even made a move in free agency toward Fried, whose ERA-plus of 140 is eighth best all time. But the Braves, who loved Fried by all accounts and whose enormous profits are known since they’re owned by a public company, didn’t offer a dime this winter, allowing the Yankees to beat out the Rangers and rival Red Sox for the most accomplished left-hander on the market.
Gerrit Cole, the 2023 Cy Young winner and a Yankee for a half-decade, will almost surely get the ball Opening Day. Fried isn’t quite as imposing, but he’s the one whose ERA-plus trumps Grover Alexander, Randy Johnson, Whitey Ford and most all-time greats. “He can do a lot of different things with the baseball, which is fun to watch,” Cole said, admiringly.
