Ace Signed To Historic Contract Won't Be New York Yankees Opening Day Starter

Despite signing their new ace to a historic contract, he won't be the one opening up the season for the New York Yankees.

Mar 3, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried (54) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The New York Yankees are reeling from losing Gerrit Cole for the entire 2025 campaign after he underwent Tommy John surgery.

That disappointing news came after it was revealed reigning AL Rookie of the Year winner Luis Gil would miss an extended amount of time during the early part of the season.

Thankfully, the Yankees were aggressive this winter when it came to their pitching staff, signing Max Fried to a record-setting $218 million contract, the most money ever handed out to a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball history.

With Cole out of the equation, New York will need their new high-priced asset to step into the ace role, something he has been in the past with the Atlanta Braves.

But that won't come in Game 1.

Manager Aaron Boone announced that Fried likely won't be the Opening Day starter because "it might not line up" as first reported by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Now, the Yankees have made that official.

Per Max Goodman of NJ.com, it will be Carlos Rodon who toes the rubber to start the year while Fried will get the ball in Game 2 of their opening series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

While this is not all too surprising based on the initial comments from Boone, it's also a bit eyebrow-raising that the pitcher signed to a record-setting deal won't be on the mound for the start of the 2025 campaign after their established ace went down with an injury.

Overall, it's not a big deal one way or the other.

New York needs Fried to be healthy and leading this staff for the entirety of this season without Cole, so if the team feels like keeping the lefty on his current throwing timeline instead of moving things up for him to be ready for Opening Day will accomplish that, then this is the best course of action.

Still, from an optics standpoint, it's tough not to see either Fried for Cole starting the first game of the year for the Yankees, especially since they are two of the highest-paid pitchers of all time.