Toronto Blue Jays Top Free Agent Target Max Fried Reportedly Nearing Decision

Free agent pitcher Max Fried is expected to choose his next team by Thursday, the Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday.

Fried spent all eight of his MLB seasons with the Atlanta Braves before hitting the open market last month. As it stands, the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have set themselves apart as the favorites to land the 30-year-old left-hander.

Rosenthal also noted that while the Texas Rangers are also in the hunt for Fried, they are unlikely to keep up in the bidding war. The Southern California native also isn't getting much traction from West Coast clubs, with the Los Angeles Dodgers already signing Blake Snell and the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels reportedly not among his finalists.

That leaves the trio of AL East teams as the most likely landing spots for Fried. All three organizations got spurned by Juan Soto – who inked a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets on Sunday night – giving them plenty of cash to burn on a free agent starter like Fried or Corbin Burnes.

While the Yankees are "all over" Fried, per Rosenthal's sources, he reported that the Blue Jays remain "desperate to make a splash."

Fried would certainly qualify as a splash, given the contract he is likely to land. MLB Trade Rumors predicted he would sign a six-year, $156 million deal, while The Athletic had him down for five years, $140 million. Spotrac calculated Fried's market value to be $136 million over six years.

The largest contract the Blue Jays have ever given out to a free agent was worth $150 million over six seasons. George Springer still has two years left on that deal, but he could be leapfrogged in the franchise history books if Fried's asking price continues to climb.

Fried went 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA, 1.164 WHIP, 166 strikeouts and a 3.5 WAR across 29 starts in 2024. Since making his big league debut in 2017, Fried is 73-36 with a 3.07 ERA, 1.164 WHIP, 863 strikeouts and a 23.1 WAR, making two All-Star appearances and winning three Gold Gloves along the way.

The southpaw also won a World Series ring in 2021, going 2-2 with a 4.23 ERA and 1.193 WHIP throughout that postseason run.

Toronto has José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt penciled into its rotation for 2025, with the trio of former All-Stars combining to make 94 starts in 2024. Beyond them is Bowden Francis, who strung together a record-breaking second half to assert himself in the race for a starting spot moving forward.

The fifth spot is currently in line to go to second-year Cuban righty Yariel Rodríguez, or maybe 23-year-old righty Jake Bloss. The once-promising Alek Manoah and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, meanwhile, could miss all of 2025 recovering from respective elbow surgeries.

With so many questions at the bottom of their rotation, the Blue Jays can simply buy themselves a new ace and shift everyone else back a slot. Toronto was previously interested in Luis Severino before he signed with the Athletics last week, so the front office certainly isn't shying away from adding another top-end starter.

Either way, it appears as if Fried will make up his mind before the Winter Meetings come to a close later this week, making the next few days critical for the Blue Jays' brass.

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