For the second straight year, Max Fried and the Atlanta Braves met in a salary arbitration hearing. This time around, the final decision on this matter sided in the Braves’ favor.
The Braves won their arbitration case against Fried earlier this month. The one-time All-Star will earn $13.5 million in the 2023 season, which is $1.5 million short of the number that he filed at. This came a year after Fried won his arbitration case against Atlanta, as he went on to make $6.85 million in the 2022 campaign.
Many MLB players can feel a bit agitated after coming away on the losing end of an arbitration case. However, this was not the case for the left-hander.
“On my side, there's no anger or animosity or anything,” Fried said on Friday. “It's two sides going at it. It’s business, it’s kind of the way I see it.”
The Braves will soon have a notable dilemma to address regarding Fried’s long-term future with the team. Fried is under team control with Atlanta for the upcoming two seasons, as he will once again be arbitration-eligible next year.
From Fried’s standpoint, he is open to extending his stay with the reigning National League East champions.
“Me and the team have always had good dialogue,” Fried said. “We’ve been able to have some good communication. I really love my time here and I love the team.
“So if that is something that comes to the table, it’s something we’ll talk about.”
Multiple Braves players came to terms with the team on new multiyear contracts during the offseason. Fried was pleased to see Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos sign several of the club's core group of talents to extension deals.
“I couldn’t be happier for [the players who received an extension],” Fried said. “They've worked really hard, and they've earned it, and they're extremely talented. I was going up giving them hugs and sitting in their press conferences. It was kind of life-changing money for people. It was good to be able to congratulate them.”
Fried is coming off of a 2022 season where he recorded a 2.48 ERA and 170 strikeouts over 185.1 innings pitched.
Follow Us
Subscribe