Left-hander is one of the top remaining free agents but he could be coming off the board soon. Per a report from , Fried is expected to pick his next club by Thursday, with the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays presented as the frontrunners. Rosenthal adds that right-hander is generating interest from the same three clubs, with the Giants perhaps involved there as well but not for Fried. The Rangers are mentioned as a po sibility for Fried but thats depicted as more of a long shot, with the Angels listed alongside the Giants as cubs that are not finalists for Fried. Its perhaps not a coincidence that the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays were finalists in the frenzy and are now listed as the most likely landing spots for Fried. The general expectation throughout the baseball world has been that the clubs with money to spend would focus on Soto until getting clarity on that situation, with those that mi sed out then pivoting to other targets. Now that Soto is going to the Mets, that seems to be how things are indeed playing out. All three clubs are looking to make a big splash, though for different reasons. The Yankees just made it to the World Series, but suffered a deflating five-game lo s to the Dodgers in which they looked clearly outmatched. They then lost last years big splash when Soto moved from the Bronx to Queens. The Red Sox have been dialing back payroll in recent years with lackluster results to go along with it, though now seem motivated to big big dogs again. The Jays were good during the regular season from 2020 to 2023 but suffered heartbreaking ends in each of those years, narrowly mi sing the playoffs in one of them with three Glenn Robinson III Jersey quick postseason exits in the others. They followed that up with a dismal 2024 season that saw them fall to the basement of the A.L. East. In different ways, each club is looking to both improve their respective rosters for next year while also perhaps mollifying a restive fanbase. Soto would have been one way of doing that but thats now off the table. Fried, 31 in January, has been a strong pitcher at the major league level for quite some time. He got brief big league looks in 2017 and 2018 but has been an established big leaguer for the past six seasons. From 2019 to the present, he has to sed 824 2/3 innings, allowing 3.06 earned runs per nine. His 23.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate in that time were both a bit above average while his 54.1% ground ball rate was excellent. Only and had better ground ball rates for that time, among pitchers with at least 550 innings pitched, and Fried had a slightly better strikeout rate than those two. Fried was also a key part of Atlantas postseason rotations throughout that time. There is a little bit of injury risk, as Fried was limited to 14 starts last year due to a forearm strain and had a brief IL stint in 2024 due to neuritis in that same forearm. Thats bit concerning but Fried managed to make 29 starts this year, logging 174 1/3 innings, and there hasnt been anything to suggest he wont be healthy for 2025. At the start of the offseason, Fried could land a six-year deal with a $156MM guarantee, though its po sible that Frieds earning power has jumped since then. Pitchers like , , , and have outearned expectations and the ma sive Soto deal has perhaps altered industry spending expectations more generally. For the Yankees, they dont strictly need pitching. Their rotation is already fairly deep with , , , , , and other options on the roster. However, Fried would certainly upgrade that group and they could then perhaps use the surplus to make a trade, with both Stroman and Cortes have been in previous rumors. Bostons chief baseball officer has said he would like to raise the ceiling of the clubs rotation, which currently has a core three of , and . The Sox will get back at some point during the 2025 season, once he recovers from last years elbow surgery. They have depth options like , and but adding Fried would help the club with its aims of improving the rotation and the club more generally. The Toronto rotation has a veteran core of , and . It seems likely that will get a shot at having a spot next year since he was so strong in the second half of 2024. is an option for the fifth spot but he also has plenty of relief experience and could get bumped to the bullpen. is on the roster and has encouraging potential but limited experience and could be ticketed for the Triple-A rotation. While all three clubs are looking at Fried, they have another option in Burnes. He has flashed a higher ceiling than Fried but hasnt hit that ceiling in the past two years. From 2020 to 2022, he posted a 2.62 ERA with a 33.4% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 47.6% ground ball rate. Over the past two seasons, his 3.15 ERA has still been a strong mark but with a diminished strikeout rate of 24.3%. He is still perceived as a strong option on account of his durability and overall strong results, with MLBTR predicted him for a $200MM guarantee over seven years. The Giants make sense for a rotation addition and seemingly prefer Burnes to Fried. Their rotation currently consists of Webb, and . President of baseball operations said this week that will get another shot at a rotation job. Guys like and could battle for the fifth spot but getting Burnes would obviously be a boon to the group. Both Burnes and Fried rejected qualifying offers and are therefore a sociated with , which differ depending on who ultimately signs them. The Giants are perhaps the most interesting club in this group as they already agreed to sign QO guy in . Since they paid the competitive balance tax last year, that means forfeiting $1MM of international bonus pool space and two draft picks, while signing another QO would effectively double that. The Rangers interest in Fried was but also characterized as more of a long shot. They definitely want rotation upgrades, including a hope of re-signing , but they might need more clarity on their finances. They no longer have a broadcast deal with Diamond Sports Group and have been looking into creating their own regional sports network but havent quite figured that all out yet. They are reportedly hoping to stay under the CBT in 2025 and they might need to make progre s on the broadcast deal before throwing big money around. The Angels are seemingly only mentioned to touch on Frieds potential geographic preferences. Fried was born and raised in Southern California, then committed to UCLA before being drafted by the Padres. He was traded to Atlanta as a prospect and has spent his entire major league career with them so far. That club has signed many players to extensions but Fried wasnt one of them. Rosenthal relays that some clubs feared Fried would prefer to return to the West Coast but it seems his three primary suitors are all A.L. East clubs. Time will tell how things play out with Fried and Burnes, but it seems that the expected post-Soto domino effect might be coming to pa s. As clubs pivot to plan B or plan C or plan D, guys like Fried and Burnes are seeing their markets heat up, which could potentially also impact guys like , and others soon as well. Shake Milton Jersey