With New York Yankees ace and 2023 Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole sidelined for the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last week, the No. 1 starter role as the team attempts to repeat as American League champions falls to their offseason’s most expensive acquisition. That would be former Atlanta Braves left-hander Max Fried, the pitcher with the lowest ERA in MLB since the start of 2020, at 2.81.

It was not too surprising, then, that the Yankees reeled in Fried with the offer of an eight-year, $218 million contract, the fourth-largest contract ever for a pitcher, and the largest for a lefty.

Even with those credentials, the Yankees had Fried penciled in as the No. 2 starter behind Cole. Now, however, the responsibility of anchoring the rotation falls to the 30-year old native of Encino, California, who got his first taste of the Yankees’ biggest rivalry on Tuesday when he faced the Boston Red Sox in a spring training game in Tampa, Florida.

But he could easily have been on the other side of that rivalry, as Fried revealed on Tuesday in an interview with Chris Cotillo of MassLive.

“They were interested and I met with the coaching staff and front office,” Fried told Cotillo. “Really nice, great people and I definitely considered them.”

But in the end, it was a “gut feeling” that took Fried to the Yankees, he said in the interview.

More MLB: Padres’ $108 Million Pitcher Has Elbow Injury, Casting Doubt on Opening Day

As the MassLive reporter notes, however, there was another factor that clearly made the Yankees the more attractive option for Fried. The Red Sox offered him, according to a New York Post report, seven years at $190 million in a deal that fell well short of the Yankees’ offer and included a portion of Fried’s salary on a deferred basis. The lefty’s contract with the Yankees does not include any deferred payouts.

The Yankees beat out the Red Sox to reach their deal with Fried on Dec. 10. But the Red Sox countered one day later by pulling off a blockbuster trade for another lefty ace, Garrett Crochet, sending four prospects including 2023 first-round draft pick, 14th overall, Kyle Teel — the Boston organization’s No. 4 prospect, who was seen as the Red Sox catcher of the future.

In Tuesday’s episode of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, Fried shut Boston out over 4 1/3 innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three and issuing no walks. The spring training game at George M. Steinbrenner Field ended in a 4-4 tie.

More MLB: Tokyo Series Further Proof of MLB’s Lack of Growth in US