The long-time Atlanta starting pitcher inked an eight-year deal worth $218 million with the Yankees earlier this week. It was a breakup that was much closer to Swanson’s situation than Freeman’s. Everyone expected to say goodbye to Max Fried, but that doesn’t make it sting any less. His tear-jerking goodbye, in fact, makes it more difficult.
“Atlanta is the organization that traded for me. It’s where I made my Major League debut. And it’s where, together, we won a World Series!” he wrote.
“To the fans, thank you for welcoming this west coast kid and making Atlanta feel like home. It’s been incredible to play for you, feel your energy, and represent the Braves. As I head into this next chapter, I’ll always look back at my time in Atlanta with so much love. It’s truly been an honor,” he wrote. “World Champs Forever.”
For over a decade, Max Fried has called the Atlanta Braves his home, and the fans were his family. He was the 7th overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft by the Padres before being traded to the Braves in December 2014 as part of a six-player deal that sent Justin Upton to San Diego.
He finished his final campaign with the Braves with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts this year in 174.1 innings, but since 2020, there’s been nobody better at preventing runs than Fried, posting a 2.81 ERA across that span, leading MLB starters. He was a class act through and through, someone that Braves fans could always count to be the fiercest competitor every time he toed the rubber.
The Game 6 performance is one that will live in infamy, and we will always be World Champions. Congratulations to Max Fried on his record-setting contract; you’ll always be loved in Atlanta.
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John Adams/Icon Sportswire
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