Max Fried should be ready for Yankees spring training after undergoing bone spur surgery

LAS VEGAS — After a season plagued by elbow issues, Max Fried has gotten an offseason cleanup.

The left-hander underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow, Brian Cashman said Tuesday, though it should not affect his readiness for the 2027 season — whenever it actually begins, with a lockout looming.

The procedure — which was not originally on the docket when Cashman and Aaron Boone last spoke to reporters in late October — comes with six weeks of rest and rehab before Fried can begin a throwing program around the second week of December.

“He should be ready for spring training,” Cashman said during the general managers meetings at the Aria Resort and Casino.

In the second year of an eight-year, $218 million contract, Fried missed two-plus months with a left elbow bone bruise and then went back on the injured list for two weeks in August with the same issue.

In the 20 starts he did make, he was mostly terrific, pitching to a 2.80 ERA across 112 ²/₃ innings.

Yankees starter Max Fried underwent surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Aaron Judge recently had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Gregory Pearl — the specialist with whom the Yankees consulted on their captain’s broken rib last season — which essentially cleared him moving forward.

“He’s currently in a good place,” Cashman said. “So no new added features to his circumstance outside of, take the winter to continue to rest up and he’ll be ready to go. But there’s no new procedures or anything there with Aaron Judge.”


While pitching coach Matt Blake’s contract extension was previously reported, Cashman revealed that assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel and bullpen coach Preston Claiborne are also coming back, as are third base coach Luis Rojas and first base coach Dan Fiorito.

Bench coach Brad Ausmus, meanwhile, is still waiting to hear back from the Astros after he interviewed for both their GM job (which went to Randy Flores) and manager job (which remains open).


Cashman on the Yankees not renewing the contracts of special advisers and former GMs Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya: “I was thankful that ownership allowed me to onboard those guys four years ago. As costs continue to stretch here, I had to make some tough decisions. We’re not going to replace or not going to duplicate those positions or replace them as we move forward. Unfortunately, there was some give that had to take place. They’re really excellent baseball people that I think will add value somewhere if somebody’s got an opportunity.”

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