The Atlanta Braves' 2025 season has been an example of the price the franchise is paying for refusing to pay market value. Atlanta's front office has often made savvy moves, signing its players early for a team-friendly rate far before free agency. The players benefit from the security, and the team gets a noted discount. However, this has resulted in the team refusing to pay key pieces their market value. This includes starter Max Fried.
Current New York Yankees ace, Fried is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA, reminding the league of his capability. It is the consistent steadying force the Atlanta rotation is so badly missing. AJ Smith-Shawver's elbow injury highlighted the team's lack of starting depth. It has left the team counting on Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder, and Spencer Strider, who is still far from his usual self post-injury.
The Atlanta Braves Made a Costly Mistake Parting Ways with Star Pitcher Max Fried
The Yankees opting to pay Fried $218 million over 8 seasons is a deal the Braves should have matched without hesitation. It was a payday the ace had more than earned, having been a key piece of Atlanta's 2021 World Series team and an established top of the rotation arm for the majority of his career.
Opting to let this stability walk away is a big piece of why Atlanta's results have been so drastically underwhelming throughout the 2025 season. A team that is lacking energy and depth cannot consistently fight above .500 due to a continual refusal to pay market value for star players. It doesn't help matters that the one player the Braves did opt to pay in free agency is in the middle of an 80-game suspension due to violating the league's banned substance list.
It is important to note that what exactly the Braves did or didn't offer Fried isn't clear. However, judging from Fried's emotional exit in the 2024 season, the starter would have gladly returned if the Braves had been capable of offering a deal anywhere close to the one the veteran ultimately signed with New York.
Atlanta failed to learn its lesson the first time around when allowing franchise cornerstone Freddie Freeman to walk away over an additional year on his contract. An often savvy front office outsmarted itself, and that is yet again what has happened with Fried.
Smith-Shawver's injury shines a spotlight on the loss and is going to make up-and-down Bryce Elder a deciding factor in a rotation Fried should still be at the top of. That's something Atlanta is realizing quickly as the team's season continues to circle the drain.