After losing the Juan Soto sweepstakes, the New York Yankees began the unfurling of Plan B. Step one of The Great Bronx Pivot is an eight-year, $218 million contract with former Atlanta Braves southpaw Max Fried. The deal is the fourth-largest ever for a starting pitcher and the largest in MLB history for a left-hander.

Fried, who turns 31 in January, boasts the single lowest ERA in baseball since the start of 2020. Less reliant on strikeouts than other frontline hurlers, the two-time All-Star is elite at two other very valuable skills: avoiding hard contact and conjuring a parade of groundouts. That, alongside a track record of pinpoint control, means Fried carries a uniquely high floor.

Originally drafted seventh overall by the San Diego Padres out of an L.A.-area high school in 2012, Fried was dealt to Atlanta in 2014 as part of the prospect return for Justin Upton. Across parts of eight  seasons with the Braves, the left-hander established himself as one of the sport’s more dependable starting pitchers. He finishes his Atlanta tenure with a sparkling 3.07 ERA in 884 1/3 innings.

For the Yankees, signing Fried will not single-handedly erase the shattering disappointment of losing Soto, but it’s a strong start.

Sunday’s regular season finale looked a lot like the games the Jets were imagining when they traded for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 32-20 win over the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Unfortunately, the win only moved the Jets’ record to 5-12 so they will not be playing any postseason games with the veteran quarterback.

The Dolphins won’t be playing any either. They came into Sunday with hopes of advancing to the playoffs, but the Broncos crushed the Chiefs second-string to sew up a playoff berth and eliminate the Dolphins before they officially eliminated themselves with the loss.

Rodgers hit tight end Tyler Conklin with his first touchdown and that made him the fourth player in NFL history to reach 500 career passing touchdowns. He ends the season with 503, which is five behind his former teammate Brett Favre for fourth place in league history. The questions of whether Rodgers will keep playing and, if he does, where he’ll be playing will be storylines to watch as the offseason gets rolling.

In addition to figuring out Rodgers’s situation, the Jets have big questions to answer about their next head coach and General Manager. Those decisions will chart a new course for a team that has now gone 14 seasons without making the playoffs.

The New York Giants closed out their 2024 regular season schedule with a trip down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The Eagles began the week locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC and sat many of their key players, including former Giant running back Saquon Barkley, who was on pace to set a new NFL single-season mark for rushing yards.

The Giants were playing out the string and had most of their healthy starters on the field but played without inside linebacker Micah McFadden, center John Michael Schmitz, and right tackle Evan Neal again.

• The Giants could not muster much offense against an Eagles defense comprised of mainly backups. They had just 238 yards of total offense.
• The Eagles went 2-for-4 in the red zone, scoring two pass plays while the Giants only had one trip into the red zone and ended up kicking a field goal.
• The game was largely even statistically with the exception of penalties. The Giants had six for 40 yards while the Eagles had just one accepted penalty for zero yards.

Drew Lock’s pass deep left intended for Jalin Hyatt was intercepted  by Eagles defensive back Sydney Brown at the Philadelphia 33-yard line and returned to the Giants’ 46 with 36 seconds remaining in regulation.

That killed any hope the Giants had of a comeback victory and sealed the 20-13 win for Philadelphia.