Marlins rivals lose top of the rotation pitcher

The Winter Meetings are under way and we already saw what was almost certainly the biggest move of the off-season take place. It now looks like another big one just went down. The New York Yankees signed starting pitcher Max Fried to a massive 7 year/$218 million deal. This is a big blow to the Miami Marlins division rivals in Atlanta.

The Miami Marlins division rivals lose a key part of the team.

This is good news for the Miami Marlins, as the Atlanta Braves are now weaker going forward. I always saw Max Fried as very underrated, due to his ace stuff. He has a career 3.07 ERA/3.29 FIP, with 8.8 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. I expect him to do really well in New York, and that the Braves will miss him quite a bit. I understand why they couldn't give him that offer as they were basically out of money to do that. Still, losing him is certainly going to affect them going forward.

Taking a look at Atlanta's rotation options for the 2025 season, it's not all bad. Spencer Strider will be back to take over as the ace. Chris Sale is coming off of a National League Cy Young award winning season. They also have Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo Lopez all in the mix. They're not doing badly, but other than Strider, there's no one in that group who is as good as Max Fried.

The Miami Marlins have a better rotation mix, but Atlanta at least has something even without Fried. It's important to point out however, that Spencer Strider is coming off of a major injury and will almost certainly be on an innings limit in 2025. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if Atlanta will add someone to replace Max Fried, or if they will just stick with what they have and hope that it's enough to reclaim the division from the Philadelphia Phillies. At thgis point, I could see either team winning the NL East in 2025. It won't be the New York Mets at this point however.