NEW YORK — Max Fried thought about the dog days when asked how he’ll spend the fortune gained from joining the New York Yankees.
No, not those hot, humid summer afternoons but rather time with Apollo, his 3-year-old mutt.
“I think the first thing that kind of popped into my mind was probably just, like, getting my dog a bunch of dog food,” the 30-year-old Fried said Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, a day after finalizing a $218 million, eight-year contract that is the richest in Major League Baseball history for a left-handed pitcher.
Not nearly as famous as Decoy, Shohei Ohtani’s Nederlandse kooikerhondje, Apollo figures to get more of a spotlight next season. Fried named the pooch after the Greek god, not thinking at first of the similarity to the name of the antagonist in the first two movies in the “Rocky” series.
“It just happened to line up that his name is Apollo Fried, so it sounds like Apollo Creed,” Fried said, “so I took that and ran with it like I did it on purpose.”
Fried, an MLB All-Star last year for the second time, spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Atlanta Braves. The highlights included pitching six scoreless innings in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series as the Braves closed out the Houston Astros for their first MLB championship since 1995.
He joins a rotation currently projected to include Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt and Marcus Stroman, but Fried never expected to wind up in the Bronx.
“I was fairly surprised at the beginning, but when the Yankees say that they’re interested in you, you perk up and you listen,” he said. “You just know the standard that the Yankees hold and putting on the pinstripes there’s a certain responsibility and expectation that comes with that, and I’m extremely excited to take that on.”
Fried noticed the messaging when he walked through the clubhouse last week.
“There’s three words that were … up on the wall and it’s prepare, compete and win,” he said. “To me as a competitor and just to me as a core, as a player, it really resonated with me.”
In New York’s quest to win the World Series for the first time since 2009, general manager Brian Cashman quickly pivoted to plan B after the Yankees lost outfielder Juan Soto to the rival New York Mets. The Mets have also acquired closer Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers and outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs.
Fried was introduced at a Yankee Stadium news conference that began with flower presentations by manager Aaron Boone to the pitcher’s mom, Carrie, and by Cashman to the pitcher’s girlfriend, Reni Whalley.
“A lot of people have worn these pinstripes, and there’s a certain feel,” Fried said. “I’m excited about being able to put the pinstripes on in Yankee Stadium for the Yankees. It’s one of the most storied, winning franchises in sports, and I want to be able to kind of do my part.”
Fried receives a $20 million signing bonus, half payable on Jan. 31, 2025, and the rest on Jan. 31, 2026. He gets salaries of $12 million in each of the first two seasons and $29 million in each of the remaining six. He has a full no-trade provision.
Boone cited a connection during an initial Zoom meeting and thought back to an outing when Fried beat the Yankees in Atlanta.
“You kind of see him in there, and soft-spoken and kind of articulate and reserved, but this is a guy that’s kind of tenacious between the lines,” he said. “I was like, man, this guy’s just kind of cutting us up and doing it in a lot of different ways.”
Fried has been on the injured list 10 times since 2018, including three times for blisters and twice for strained hamstrings.
“Being down in the South, in Atlanta with the humid summers, probably didn’t help as far as just blisters,” he said. “The medical staff down there was fantastic in being able to help me figure out a routine that kinds of works and be able to kind of mitigate all that.”
Fried was 54-25 with a 2.81 ERA with five complete games and four shutouts in 112 starts over the past five seasons. He was among only three pitchers to throw two complete games this year, when there were just 16 in the major leagues.
A three-time Gold Glove winner who turns 31 on Jan. 18, Fried has one of the broadest repertoires in the majors, throwing seven types of pitches. He averaged 93.9 mph this year with his fastball, which he threw 33.6% of the time. Fried mixed in 21% curveballs, 15.6% sinkers, 13.6% changeups, 5.9% sweepers, 5.6% sliders and 4.7% cutters.
He was 11-10 with a 3.25 ERA over 29 starts this past season, striking out 166 batters and walking a career-high 57 in 174 1/3 innings.
“There’s a level of improvability going forward just with how the arsenal kind of can be crafted and pulled apart,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said, “and there’s some room to evolve with us.”