From a pure talent perspective, I like Fried. As a pitcher, he tracks with what the Yankees generally look for: low exit velocity, high ground ball, good barrel rate %. He also has the lowest ERA of any starting pitcher since 2020.
My concern is with the length of the contract. 8 years for a guy who's already 30 and isn't exactly the most durable. I generally don't like paying pitchers after 30 as is. And he's going to be pitching for us until 38. If he can give us quality pitching until 34, I'll be satisfied.
Still, I like this a hell of a lot better than throwing 400 million at Jake Arrieta 2.0 (aka Corbin Burnes)