player steps into future with Braves.

The offseason is going down, and it is a sure sign that baseball will be back soon when teams begin their numerous fan celebrations ahead of the season. For the Atlanta Braves, this weekend is Braves Fest, which is currently underway despite some bad weather. While Braves Fest is largely about fans meeting players and having a wonderful time, we did hear a little of news about Max Fried’s future with the Braves.

Fried was asked about his future in Atlanta, since he is about to complete his final year under contract. The subject of Max Fried’s extension has been a hot topic for a few years now, and his response did not inspire much optimism that a deal would be reached before the end of the season.

Max Fried’s comments on an extension sound a lot like Freddie Freeman.
Getting Fried to agree to an extension was always going to be difficult. Fried has undoubtedly been one of baseball’s top pitchers in recent years, but he also has Tommy John surgery on his record and lost a significant amount of time last year due to elbow issues. The Braves should want to protect themselves in case he falls off, but Fried must be looking at the contracts given to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Aaron Nola, and Carlos Rodon and thinking that he should be paid similarly.

What is most disturbing, however, is his statement that the situation was beyond his control. Does this sound familiar? It should since it sounds very similar to what Freddie Freeman said and did when the topic of his potential extension arose. Freddie was similarly disconnected from the process and emphatic about keeping all interactions between him and the Braves private.

What is the end result? Freddie’s agents overreached in negotiations with Anthopoulos, so AA went out and traded for Matt Olson. Freddie fired his representatives over the incident, but that didn’t change the fact that he ended up with the Dodgers instead of the team who drafted and developed him and made him one of the

Hopefully, that is not what occurs here. It’s reasonable that Fried doesn’t want to litigate in public, and it’s great to know he enjoys playing in Atlanta. That affection can only go so far, and if Fried truly wants to stay, he will need to be more involved in the process than Freddie was. Whether Fried wants to acknowledge it or not, the situation is ultimately in his control.