Max Fried quickly turning into another regrettable Brian Cashman decision for Yankees

New York! The place where everybody comes to get paid before they turn into a pumpkin. Welcome! It happens with literally 80% of high-profile Yankees players that have walked through the door during the Aaron Boone era.

Is Brian Cashman signing and trading for the wrong players? Is Boone the wrong manager for all of them? Whatever it is, it isn't working! And the latest example is Max Fried, who received the largest free agent contract for a left-handed starter in MLB history when he signed an eight-year, $218 million deal in December.

Many fans scratched their heads when that deal went down, but there were many reasons it looked good on the surface (and it still could be!). First of all, the Yankees stepped in front of the Red Sox and prevented Fried from going to Boston with a better offer. That's smart. Secondly, their effort to build a super rotation wasn't anything fans would oppose, and it actually appeared to be a season-saving move when it was revealed Gerrit Cole would need Tommy John surgery.

Furthermore, Cashman looked to be completely vindicated from any outside criticism after Fried's first 11 starts of the year. The left-hander had a 1.29 ERA in 70 innings pitched and became known as "the stopper" for his ability to completely stymie opponents after a Yankees loss.

Somehow, all of that goodwill has been thrown out the window. Over his last 13 starts, Fried has a 4.50 ERA. Since the beginning of July, he has a 6.00 ERA. Quite literally the only pitcher the Yankees couldn't afford to have fall off a cliff over this heinous stretch of play did in spectacular fashion.

Brian Cashman's contract for Max Fried has Yankees fans regretting everything again

We hate to bring this up again, like we did when he first signed the contract, but all of those concerns are now rearing their ugly head. Fried has only made 30 starts in a season twice in his career. He has never pitched more than 185 1/3 innings in a single year. He's in his age-31 season! Repeated blister issues have inhibited his ability to remain consistent. Braves fans will tell you that small, nagging injuries affect him like no other — if Fried isn't feeling his best, he is pitching at his worst.

On Sunday, Fried put forth maybe his most disappointing start of the season. The Yankees, after a triumphant and clutch victory on Saturday, had their best pitcher going in a crucial rubber match. But Fried followed suit with the rest of the low-energy starting staff, giving up a first-inning homer to Jose Altuve after serving up a 94 MPH fastball at the top of the zone for the first pitch of the at-bat. He became the third Yankees starter to surrender a first-inning homer against the Astros in the last three days.

In the third inning, after easily securing the first two outs (again!), he let up another single to Altuve, and then a rocket RBI double to the lowly Christian Walker. Then came his fifth-inning meltdown, where he lost control and all semblance of execution. He gave up two more runs and concluded another bad outing — 5 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 1 BB. The Yankees are 3-7 in his last 10 starts, which include losses to the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays (twice) and now Astros. The wins came against the Reds, Mets and Rays. We'll take it, but that's not the most impressive trio.

Fried is a talented pitcher and quickly became a fan favorite for his early-season work in the Bronx, but he's given it all back in a matter of six weeks. Carlos Rodón did the same thing in 2024, getting off to a hot start before imploding and making all of his quality outings from April-May meaningless.

This is far from the end for Fried, but fans can't say they like the way it's trending. If there's an underlying injury we don't know about, then this will be a moot point. But if blisters and an inability to rise about the rest of the middling roster are the reasons for his spiral, then this will go down as another regrettable, bloated Cashman move in what was clearly an attempt to get a talented pitcher at a reasonable AAV.