DALLAS — The New York Yankees, wasting no time shrugging off the disappointment of Juan Soto’s defection, went shopping again, agreeing with left-handed starter Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract, a person with direct knowledge of the contract told USA TODAY Sports.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal won’t become official until Fried passes his physical.
The deal, which includes no deferrals or opt-outs, is the richest contract ever given to a left-handed pitcher, and the fourth-largest among all pitchers in history.
The Yankees, who were left at the altar Sunday when Soto rejected their 16-year, $760 million contract and instead took $5 million more and a year less from the Mets, acted like they weren’t that all broken-hearted.
They knew they had plenty of holes to fill and if they had signed Soto, they would have had no financial flexibility to fill their other needs.
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Now, they have one of the best lefties in baseball to go with ace Gerrit Cole, and have plenty of money left to find a third baseman, center fielder, first baseman and a reliever or too.
The Yankees, according to one official, have expressed interest in potentially trading for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, center fielder Cody Bellinger of the Chicago Cubs, and pursuing free agent first baseman Christian Walker and reliever Tanner Scott.
And they still will have plenty of money left that wasn’t used to Soto.
“Look, it’s not going to stop us from hopefully going to put together another great team,’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday morning. “There’s different ways of doing it. We don’t even know which way that is this winter. You don’t know how it’s going to unfold, what free agents come into the mix, who you match up with, who you maybe match up with in a trade. That’s the fun part about now and trying to make good evaluations and good decisions ultimately to put us in a good spot moving forward.’
That pain of losing Soto was certainly eased with the signing of Fried, 30, a two-time All-Star with a 2.81 ERA the past five years in Atlanta. The Yankees beat out the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays in the bidding for Fried.
“Our expectation is to still go out and build and put together a great team to go compete for a championship again next year,’’ Boone said. “That doesn’t stop.’’
They certainly took a huge first step in doing just that while vying for their first World Series title since 2009.
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