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NEW YORK — Max Fried may have commanded the richest contract for a left-handed pitcher in baseball history, but the New York Yankees believe there is room for improvement for the two-time All-Star.

“He’s had a lot of success, but there’s a level of improvability going forward, just with how the arsenal can be crafted and pulled apart, and there’s some room to evolve with us,” Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said Wednesday. “We like that.”

Fried was formally introduced at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday after agreeing to an eight-year, $218 million deal last week. He highlighted the organization’s advancements in analytics and history with developing pitchers as a selling point in his decision to sign with New York.

“They’ve got a lot of success stories of making guys a lot better,” Fried said. “And I think that just being able to take in the information and make some adjustments, as far as my pitch shapes and things to that extent, I think there’s still a little bit in there for me to hopefully do better.”

Fried, 30, gives the Yankees another front-line starter to pair with Gerrit Cole, another Southern California native, atop a rotation that was a team strength en route to the franchise’s first World Series appearance since 2009.

And the Yankees might not be done adding top-tier starting pitching.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said club officials are scheduled to meet with Japanese star right-hander Roki Sasaki “soon” in California. Sasaki, 23, is expected to draw interest from most, if not all, clubs because he will be forced to sign at a steep discount.

Sasaki would certainly have commanded a nine-figure contract on the open market, but he is considered an international amateur free agent, a designation that suppresses his earning potential, because he is under the age of 25 and didn’t play six seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball before posting.

As a result, Sasaki will be limited to signing a minor-league deal within a club’s capped international bonus pool budget. Top bonus pools are around $7.5 million, though teams can trade for an additional 60% of its pool money.

Sasaki was posted by his Japanese club, Chiba Lotte, earlier this month, opening a 45-day window to sign with a team. He must wait to sign after the next international free agent signing period begins on Jan. 15 but can meet with teams before then. He has until Jan. 23 to sign with a team. If a deal is not reached, he would return to Chiba Lotte.

“He’s extremely talented, no doubt about it, and he has a chance to be one of the world’s greatest pitchers,” Cashman said. “It’d be nice to be able to have Yankee Stadium be his home.”

Fried chose the Yankees after posting a 3.07 ERA over parts of eight seasons with the Atlanta Braves to begin his major league career. He finished second in the NL Cy Young Award race in 2022 and won three Gold Glove Awards. He has pitched in the postseason in each of the past seven years despite various injuries limiting him to two seasons with at least 174⅓ innings pitched.

He entered the offseason as one of the three top starting pitchers on the free agent market, alongside Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes. but he did not expect the Yankees to show genuine interest.

That changed during a Zoom call with team officials last month. A connection was forged over the easygoing 90-minute session. Questions and answers flowed between the two sides. The Yankees got the sense that Fried thirsted to play in New York, and Fried became convinced that the organization was a fit.

“You just kind of get a feel for, like, all right, his guard’s down,” Cashman said. “He’s comfortable. He’s sharing. He’s not nervous. It was a good give-and-take. He was asking us questions about what makes us tick, how we go about our business. The takeaway was just that it was somebody easy to engage with, period, end of story. End of the day: good, genuine, authentic, honest individual who can really pitch.”

But there was a caveat to the Yankees’ pitch: They would only move forward with Fried if Juan Soto chose to sign elsewhere. Once Soto decided to join the New York Mets, the Yankees quickly pivoted to Fried, their No. 2 target in free agency.

“We’re just trying to chase down a championship and we feel like we’ve added a championship piece,” manager Aaron Boone said.

Fried was the first of three players added by the Yankees over the past week. The club also acquired reliever Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday and first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

Boone on Wednesday confirmed Williams will be the team’s closer next season. As for Bellinger, Cashman said that will depend on how the rest of the offseason plays out. For now, Bellinger — who can play first base, center field and left field — gives the Yankees flexibility in free agency and on the trade market as they seek to continue bolstering the roster after Soto’s departure.

“We’ve done some heavy lifting with Max, with Devin Williams, with Bellinger,” Cashman said. “But there’s more lifting to do.”

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Red Sox deal All-Star Devers to Giants in stunner

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Red Sox deal All-Star Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants acquired three-time All-Star Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in a stunning trade that sent a player Boston once considered a franchise cornerstone to a San Francisco team needing an offensive infusion.

Boston received left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, right-hander Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and Rookie League right-hander Jose Bello.

The Red Sox announced the deal Sunday evening.

The Giants will cover the remainder of Devers’ contract, which runs through 2033 and will pay him more than $250 million, sources told ESPN.

The trade ends the fractured relationship between Devers and the Red Sox that had degraded since spring training, when Devers balked at moving off third base — the position where he had spent his whole career — after the signing of free agent Alex Bregman. The Red Sox gave no forewarning to Devers, who expressed frustration before relenting and agreeing to be their designated hitter.

After a season-ending injury to first baseman Triston Casas in early May, the Red Sox asked Devers to move to first base. Devers declined, suggesting the front office “should do their jobs” and find another player after the organization told him during spring training he would be the DH for the remainder of the season. The day after Devers’ comments, Red Sox owner John Henry, president Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City, where Boston was playing, to talk with Devers.

In the weeks since, Devers’ refusal to play first led to internal tension and helped facilitate the deal, sources said.

San Francisco pounced — and added a force to an offense that ranks 15th in runs scored in Major League Baseball. Devers, 28, is hitting .272/.401/.504 with 15 home runs and 58 RBIs, tied for the third most in MLB. Over his nine-year career, Devers is hitting .279/.349/.509 with 215 home runs and 696 RBIs in 1,053 games.

Boston believed enough in Devers to give him a 10-year, $313.5 million contract extension in January 2023. He rewarded the Red Sox with a Silver Slugger Award that season and made his third All-Star team in 2024.

Whether he slots in at designated hitter or first base with San Francisco — the Giants signed Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million deal last year — is unknown. But San Francisco sought Devers more for his bat, one that immediately makes the Giants — who are fighting for National League West supremacy with the Los Angeles Dodgers — a better team.

To do so, the Giants gave a package of young talent and took on the contract that multiple teams’ models had as underwater.

Harrison, 23, is the prize of the deal, particularly for a Red Sox team replete with young hitting talent but starving for young pitching. Once considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, Harrison has shuttled between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento this season.

Harrison, who was scratched from a planned start against the Dodgers on Sunday night, has a 4.48 ERA over 182⅔ innings since debuting with the Giants in 2023. He has struck out 178, walked 62 and allowed 30 home runs. The Red Sox optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester after the trade was announced.

Hicks, 28, who has toggled between starter and reliever since signing with the Giants for four years and $44 million before the 2024 season, is on the injured list because of right toe inflammation. One of the hardest-throwing pitchers in baseball, Hicks has a 6.47 ERA over 48⅔ innings this season. He could join the Red Sox’s ailing bullpen, which Breslow has sought to upgrade.

Tibbs, 22, was selected by the Giants with the 13th pick in last year’s draft out of Florida State. A 6-foot, 200-pound corner outfielder, Tibbs has spent the season at High-A, where he has hit .245/.377/.480 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs in 56 games. Scouts laud his command of the strike zone — he has 41 walks and 45 strikeouts in 252 plate appearances — but question whether his swing will translate at higher levels.

Bello, 20, has spent the season as a reliever for the Giants’ Rookie League affiliate. In 18 innings, he has struck out 28 and walked three while posting a 2.00 ERA.

The deal is the latest in which Boston shipped a player central to the franchise.

Boston traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, just more than a year after leading Boston to a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series title and winning the American League MVP Award.

Devers was part of that World Series-winning team in 2018 and led the Red Sox in RBIs each season from 2020 to 2024, garnering AL MVP votes across each of the past four years. Devers had been with the Red Sox since 2013, when he signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. He debuted four years later at age 20.

Boston is banking on its young talent to replace Devers’ production. The Red Sox regularly play four rookies — infielders Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Carlos Narvaez — and infielder Franklin Arias and outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia are expected to contribute in the coming years.

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Ohtani to return to mound vs. Padres on Monday

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Ohtani to return to mound vs. Padres on Monday

Shohei Ohtani will make his long-awaited return to pitching on Monday night in a matchup against the division-rival San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced.

Ohtani, 21 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, will be used as an opener, likely throwing one inning. Because of his two-way designation, Ohtani qualifies as an extra pitcher on the roster, giving the Dodgers the flexibility to use a piggyback starter behind him.

That is essentially what will take place in his first handful of starts — a byproduct of the progress Ohtani has made in the late stages of his pitching rehab.

Ohtani, 30, initially seemed to be progressing toward a return some time around August. But he made a major step during his third simulated game from San Diego’s Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three simulated innings and compiling six strikeouts against a couple of low-level minor leaguers.

Afterward, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could return before the All-Star break. When he met with reporters prior to Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants — an eventual 5-4 victory — Roberts said it was a “possibility” Ohtani could pitch after just one more simulated game.

After the game, Roberts indicated the timeline might have been pushed even further, telling reporters it was a “high possibility” Ohtani would pitch in a big league game this week as an opener, likely during the upcoming four-game series against the Padres.

“He’s ready to pitch in a big league game,” Roberts told reporters. “He let us know.”

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What blockbuster trade means for Rafael Devers’ fantasy baseball potential

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What blockbuster trade means for Rafael Devers' fantasy baseball potential

If you’re just getting back home from your Father’s Day activities, you had better sit down, because Sunday evening’s Boston Red SoxSan Francisco Giants trade is a doozy.

Rafael Devers, second among third basemen and seventh among hitters in fantasy points this season, is headed to the Giants, traded minutes before their game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Boston’s return includes pitchers Kyle Harrison, who was the Giants’ scheduled starting pitcher Sunday night (subsequently scratched), pitcher Jordan Hicks, outfield prospect James Tibbs III and pitching prospect Jose Bello.

Expect Devers to continue to serve in a designated hitter-only capacity with his new team, considering his season-long stance, which is primarily an issue for his position eligibility for 2026. He might factor as the Giants’ future first baseman if given a full offseason to prepare for the shift to a new position — or it could happen sooner if he has a change of heart in his new environment.

As for the impact on Devers’ numbers, the move from Fenway Park to Oracle Park represents one of the steepest downgrades in terms of park factors, specifically run production and extra-base hits. With its close-proximity Green Monster in left field, Fenway Park is a much better environment for doubles and runs scored, Statcast reflecting that it’s 22% and 10% better than league average in those categories, respectively, compared with 8% worse and only 2% above par for Oracle Park.

Devers is a prime-age 28, with a contract averaging a relatively reasonable $31.8 million over the next eight seasons, and he’s leaving a Red Sox team where his defensive positioning — he has played all but six of his career defensive innings at third base — was a manner of much debate, to go to a team that has one of baseball’s best defensive third basemen in Matt Chapman (once he’s healthy following a hand injury). Devers’ unwillingness to play first base probably played a big part in his ultimately being traded, and it’s worth pointing out that one of the positions where the Giants are weakest is, well, also first base.

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Perez: Devers gives Giants a ‘really good offense’

Eduardo Perez, David Cone and Karl Ravech react to the Giants acquiring star 3B Rafael Devers from the Red Sox.

Devers’ raw power is immense, as he has greater than 95th percentile barrel and hard-hit rates this season. He has been in that tier or better in the latter in each of the past three seasons as well. He’s at a 33-homer (and 34 per 162 games) pace since the beginning of 2021, so the slugger should continue to homer at a similar rate regardless of his surroundings. He should easily snap the Giants’ drought of 30-homer hitters, which dates back to Barry Bonds in 2004. Devers’ fantasy value might slip slightly, mostly due to the park’s impact on his runs scored and RBIs, but he’ll remain a top-four fantasy third baseman.

If you play in an NL-only league, Devers is an open-the-wallet free agent target. He’s worth a maximum bid, considering he brings a similar ability to stars you might invest in come the July trade deadline, except in this case you’ll get an extra month and a half’s production.

Harrison is an intriguing pickup for the Red Sox, though in a disappointing development, he was immediately optioned to Triple-A Worcester. A top-25 overall prospect as recently as two years ago, Harrison’s spike in average fastball velocity this season (95.1 mph, up from 92.5) could be a signal of better things ahead. Once recalled to Fenway Park, his fantasy prospects would take a hit, as that’s a venue that isn’t forgiving to fly ball-oriented lefties, but he’d be a matchups option nevertheless.

Expect Hicks to serve in setup relief for his new team, though he’d at best be fourth in the Red Sox’s pecking order for saves.

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