New Yankee Max Fried Drops 7-Word Message Taking Shot at Braves, Fans Not Happy

Since the early 1990s, the Atlanta Braves have been one of the most consistently successful franchises in Major League Baseball, missing the postseason only nine times in the last 33 seasons (not counting the strike-shortened 1994 season when there was no postseason). Specifically, the Braves have made the playoffs every year since 2018, taking home a World Series championship trophy in 2021.

The 2018 season was also the rookie year for left-handed pitcher Max Fried, the 2012 first-round draft pick, seventh overall, of the San Diego Padres. The Padres traded the Los Angeles Harvard-Westlake High School product to the Braves in 2014 as part of a six-player deal that brought Justin Upton to San Diego. Upton would play only a single season in San Diego before departing in free agency.

But Fried went on to enjoy an embarrassment of riches with Atlanta, pitching in the postseason every year starting in 2018, and starting two games in that victorious 2021 World Series. Fried was the winning pitcher in the series-clinching Game Six, becoming only the fourth pitcher in Braves history to win a World Series-ending game, and the first since Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in 1995.

Fried Says Yankees Give Him More Chance at Winning

Apparently, however, none of that success was enough for Fried. Not only did he leave the Braves for an eight-year, $218 million contract with the New York Yankees earlier in December, in his first public appearance as a Yankee he felt the need to take a backhanded shot at the Braves’ commitment to winning, with the seven-word message, “Winning is a big priority for me.”

“Well, what does that say about Atlanta?”asked FanSided Braves reporter Mark Powell, who said that Fried’s remark and subsequent comments, “should feel like a slap in the face to Braves fans.”

Elaborating on his seven-word message at his December 18 press conference, the 30-year-old Fried went on to say, “At the end of the day, every single year the Yankees come to spring training, the number one goal is to win the World Series. It’s not to get to the playoffs, it’s not to do anything but hold up the trophy at the end of the year.”

In the time that Fried has pitched in the postseason every full year of his career for the Braves, the Yankees have made the playoffs in every year but one, but until 2023 they did not advance past the Division Series round. They finally got back to the World Series in 2024, after a drought of 15 years, but lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

Some Braves Fans Agree With Fried

Was it fair, then, for Fried to seemingly take a shot at his former team, appearing to question Atlanta’s commitment to winning when his new team has done no better and arguably worse over the course of Fried’s own MLB career? Braves fans may not have been happy with his remark, but they reluctantly agreed.

“Max Fried’s comments today in his press conference should let all the Braves fans know what Liberty Media’s plans for the team are, and it’s not about winning the World Series,” wrote one on X (formerly Twitter). Liberty Media is the conglomerate that owns the Braves.

“While the Braves young stars are signed long-term, their farm system needs a rebuild of its own,” wrote Powell. “Atlanta should be a playoff team next season, but lost in the Wild Card round and hasn’t been active enough this winter to dramatically improve its chances – at least not yet.”

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