Latest Yankees-Max Fried free agency rumors only feel right for one reason

Not to nitpick, but it's our job as Yankees fans to spot the missteps before they happen. We're happy to call ourselves out after the fact if we're wrong, too. It's all on the record. The fact of the matter is New York has made countless free agency mistakes and history cannot be repeated.

Carlos Rodón is among the most recent, and represents a move that the fans endorsed at the time. Everyone thought it would be better. We're sorry it hasn't been. But please, don't do the same thing again.

Though the Yankees need pitching, they do not need to overspend, and they do not need an imperfect candidate. The roster is already on stilts with various bloated salaries and what will end up potentially being a massive (but necessary) overpay for Juan Soto, if it occurs.

According to the latest buzz, the Yankees are on Max Fried's tail and recently had a 90-minute Zoom call with the former Braves left-hander. Michael Kay relayed that somebody's in Fried's camp revealed the pitcher "really likes" the Yankees and that they're planning on another meeting.

Hey, we'll take all the good players we can get, but Fried feels like a similar version of Rodón: frequently dinged up, struggles to be a workhorse, and gets lit up in big games/starts. Do the Yankees need to pay upwards of $30 million per year for that after they failed to get a deal done with a better option in Blake Snell?

Yankees Rumors: Max Fried moving toward contract with New York in free agency?

Fried is a star pitcher. There is no question about that. But since debuting in 2017, he's made 30 starts in a single season just twice. He's eclipsed 180 innings only once. And he doesn't strike out a lot of batters.

Then again, he limits contact and home runs in addition to fielding his position extremely well (three Gold Gloves). Those are all positives that the Yankees' rotation struggles with, and the two-time All-Star would also bring a ton of experience pitching in one of the toughest divisions in baseball coming from the NL East.

The other possibility here is that the Yankees are driving up the price for the rival Boston Red Sox, who are also chasing Fried (and Corbin Burnes, and Garrett Crochet). If that's the plan, then it's safe to say many would support that free agency strategy. Forcing your opponents to spend more (or pass on) top talent is almost as good as adding meaningfully to your own roster.

But getting locked into a $200+ million contract with Fried and staring down the barrel of Cole-Rodón-Stroman in their latter years kind of feels like a nightmare. Not to mention, Fried is also entering his age-31 season with just 151 starts to his name. It feels like the classic case of paying for a shiny object that will not live up to the length/cost of the contract.

Nobody will complain if the Yankees sign Max Fried, but there are plentiful warning signs for fans to be wary of, and more than you might think could be hoping this is just a ploy to price out the Red Sox or force them to spend uncomfortably.