That's because for the majority of his career he's had Billy Hamilton and Inciarte on his team who have been elite CFers so there was really no need to put him out there. But yeah, everything suggests he can be a passable CFer if needed and the Braves likely will need that for a majority of 2022. I have to assume at some point Pache will get another chance next year in Atlanta though.
Assuming Ozuna is on the roster - and I see almost no reason to assume Alex is going to be able to convince someone else to take him - I still think there's a better chance that that point is Opening Day than most folks think.
There's still a part of me that thinks AA is going to use a chunk of the additional revenue to extend Fried. I don't think a potential Freeman return has any bearing on things - at the end of the day, I just don't think that's in Alex' hands. It's a "brand" decision, and with Acuna and Albies locked up through 2026/2027 I just feel like ownership will feel like they have to keep that core together. I feel like Max is the 4th leg of that horse, and think AA just might too.
A 4 year/$71.2 million extension that starts in 2023 would buy out Fried's first 2 free-agent seasons (through age 33) and would somewhat mirror the McCullers and Berrios deals.
2022 - $7.1 million (arbitration year)
2023 - $12.2 million (arbitration year)
2024 - $19.6 million (arbitration year)
2025 - $19.6 million (free-agent)
2026 - $19.7 million (free-agent)
That's $17.8 million AAV - McCullers' 5 years is $17 million AAV and Berrios' 7 years is $18.7 million AAV, so that's pretty much smack in the middle of those. Max turns 28 on January 18th, McCullers turned 28 in October, and Berrios turns 28 at the end of May. If you were ranking the three of them by ceilings Berrios would probably be first, and his longer deal reflects that. I think it's probably fair to consider McCullers and Max a wash given their injury concerns and histories. McCullers said he wanted to finish his career in Houston, and although I haven't seen Max quoted saying that I think it's fair to think he might like to finish here too since he's never pitched anywhere else and has a really good core surrounding him like McCullers and Berrios do. McCullers and Fried might not be "done" at age 33, and if Max wanted to ensure that he finished here and was pushed by the union or his agent to get closer to Berrios' 7 years he could agree to have 2027 tacked on as a $20 million team option like they did for Morton and go year-to-year after that.
If Freeman eventually gets 6 years and they picked up Fried and Ozzie's (first) options, the four of them would be together through the guaranteed part of Acuna's deal.