Most of Braves Country expects Alex Anthopoulos to let Max Fried walk in free agency, but according to a recent report from Jim Bowden of The Athletic, they aren’t going down without a fight.

In response to a question about how likely it is for Atlanta to go after Jordan Montgomery or Zach Littell in a trade, Bowden dropped a bit of information that we could’ve assumed, but now we have definitive proof that the Braves are trying to sign Fried. However, it’s not only Fried; the club is also trying to re-sign Charlie Morton.

How likely is it the Braves go after Jordan Montgomery or maybe Zack Littell (from the Rays) if they can’t re-sign Max Fried, or do they roll with what they’ve got and hope one of Bryce Elder, Ian Anderson, AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep can hold down a spot in the rotation? — Jeremy P.

The Braves are trying to re-sign both Fried and Charlie Morton and have also kicked the tires on several other free-agent starting pitchers who would rank ahead of Montgomery. They’re also high on their young starters, both in the majors and in the pipeline, and since they really don’t have a bad contract to offer in exchange for Montgomery, I don’t see a fit unless the Diamondbacks are willing to eat most of his contract, which I don’t think they’ll do (at least at this time).

Max Fried is expected to garner a free agent deal worth anywhere from $150 to $200 million over six years, while Charlie Morton is looking at another one-year deal between $15 and $20 million.

Morton feels almost assuredly an Atlanta Brave in 2025 if the club wants him back. It’s just a matter of what number works for both sides. On the other hand, Fried is much less likely.

It was always going to be difficult to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Mets, Dodgers, and Yankees for Fried’s services, but the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox are also reportedly interested in the southpaw.

There are more clubs in need of starting pitchers than there are available. Simple supply and demand tells us that the Braves are going to have to come out of their comfort zone if they want to land Fried or another marquee starting pitcher.

Yusei Kikuchi just signed a three-year, $63 million to join the Los Angeles Angels. He’s the first significant starting pitcher to come off the market, and if he can get $21 million annually over three years, the Braves must be willing to go much further than that to retain Max Fried.

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