Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried reveals contract hopes ahead of All-Star Game

THE Atlanta Braves They have the best pitching staff in baseball heading into the All-Star break, and one of their aces has spoken out about his future with the club.

Three-time All-Star Max Fried has consistently been one of the Braves’ top pitchers and hasn’t missed a beat over the past three seasons. He owns a 3.01 ERA in 131 starts. More importantly, he’s gone 67-26 since being placed in the team’s regular rotation full-time. He’s in the last year of his contract and has the 16th best ERA in the major leagues at 3.08.

However, while players like Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Spencer Strider, Sean Murphy, Michael Harris II, Ronald Acuña and Ozzy Albies signed contract extensions under general manager Alex Anthopoulos, Fried did not.

That makes the 30-year-old Santa Monica, Calif. native’s future a bit uncertain. In a recent interview, the star left-handed pitcher spoke about his possible final season with Atlanta.

“I love the organization 100 percent. Obviously, there’s a lot of things we focus on in the middle of the season. But I really love it, I loved my time in Atlanta. I love it. I would really like to be here.” Fried said to Gabe Burns from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Anthopoulos has a prime asset to get the at-bat he needs sooner rather than later if that is indeed the path he chooses. However, with every quality departure, his price tag also increases. The question is: Has Fried moved beyond the ‘AA price range for a contract extension? It’s hard to imagine the Braves letting go of one of the best pitchers in baseball for zero compensation when contract negotiations are minimal at the moment.

Overall, it’s also hard to see the organization truly improving without Max, regardless of which hitter they draft. With the team load heavily on the launchers In the 2024 MLB Draft, anything is possible as the team consistently has a stockpile of quality pitchers ready.

With just a few weeks left until the trade deadline, it’s possible the left-hander could also receive an extension before free-agent talks get stronger from other teams.