Yankees sign Max Fried to massive contract to serve as Gerrit Cole's running mate

The New York Yankees entered the Winter Meetings with $760 million burning a hole in their pockets. They'll leave the festivities with at least one marquee addition.

Left-hander Max Fried purportedly narrowed down his decision to a trio of AL East teams earlier on Tuesday: the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Yankees were all left vying for his services. Based on the resulting chatter, though -- Chris Cotillo noting that the Yankees were "really interested," Buster Olney noting they were in "big" -- it certainly seemed like New York was in the driver's seat.

When Jon Morosi floated the likelihood of an existing seven-year offer later in the afternoon, it felt even likelier that the Yankees' interest was peaking.

But we never expected eight. As the MLB Draft Lottery took place in a separate room, the Yankees locked Fried down using one of their patented AAV-stretching moves. Fried will receive an annual luxury tax hit of $27.25 million, with more contract details surely coming down the pike. The Yankees will now sacrifice two draft picks as well, given that Fried received the qualifying over, and they're notably over the CBT threshold.

Still ... Fried gives them so much flexibility, and allows them to outfox the Red Sox. That's a win.

What comes next after Yankees sign Max Fried to eight-year contract, steal him from Red Sox?

Feels good to win a bidding war.

Now, the Yankees' rotation is nicely set up, in terms of both upside and depth. Fried will follow Gerrit Cole, with Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt behind him. Is Nestor Cortes Jr. healthy? Will Marcus Stroman be carried through Opening Day? Beyond those two, Will Warren could also be a depth piece.

But the 2024 Yankees' issue was the consistency of their offense, an issue laid bare by Juan Soto's departure. That makes it all the more likely that at least one of Cortes/Gil/Schmidt will be flipped for young bats, with Cody Bellinger firmly on the Yankees' radar.

Stay tuned. If anyone expected the Yankees to sit out the Winter Meetings and sulk, they were sorely mistaken. Instead, they add a two-time All-Star and 2022 Cy Young runner up.