One of the top free agents left the board this week as the Yankees and Max Fried agreed to a stunning eight-year, $218 million contract. Clubs like the Blue Jays and Red Sox were also known to be involved, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today (X-Link) reports that the Athletics were “one of the most aggressive teams” in the bid.

Many fans may roll their eyes at the thought of the A’s getting anywhere close to a free agent of this caliber, which would be an understandable position. Until a few weeks ago, they had never given a free agent more than the $36 million they gave Yoenis Cespedes in 2012. They recently broke this record by donating Luis Severino $67 million, a huge jump for them, but still relatively modest by league standards and well below the deal Fried got.

But the A’s need to spend some money somewhere. This week it was reported that the club may need to increase its competitive tax number to the $105 million range to avoid a complaint from the MLBPA.

That may explain the recent rumors about an impending wage increase. MLBTR took an in-depth look at the A’s last month, citing reports from January that suggested the potential for increased spending. Since then, the A’s have stepped up their game with the aforementioned signing of Severino. They also reportedly made a strong offer Sean Manaeawhich remains without a signature.

It’s not surprising that they couldn’t get anything done with Fried as the pitching market is hot. Fried and several other pitchers have exceeded expectations since the start of the offseason. MLBTR projected him for six years and $156 million, but he exceeded that, with guys like Severino, Frankie Montas, Matthew Boyd and other hurlers also exceeded their predictions.

The A’s are widely expected to overpay to land a free agent. Given that the club has been rebuilding for many years and will play in a Triple-A park in West Sacramento for the next three years, no free agent will have them as their first choice. Some people just go where the money is best, but others may need a premium before considering the special circumstances of joining the A’s. That may have been the case with Severino, who was predicted to make $51 million but got far more than that.

Even if the A’s were theoretically willing to slightly exceed the Yankees’ offer, Fried might not have accepted their money. Still, it does suggest that they are a club to keep an eye on for the rest of the off-season. RosterResource’s CBT number currently stands at $78 million, so they’re still well below their reported target of $105 million. That means they’ll have remaining free agents like Manaea, Jeff Hoffman, Nick Pivetta or others. Even with the addition of Severino, rotation is proving to be the best way to improve the team while increasing spending, which is reflected in their interest in Fried and Manaea.

It’s also worth noting that the club doesn’t appear to be worried about players who have turned down qualifying offers. The A’s have already lost their third-highest pick in the upcoming draft by signing Severino because he rejected a QO from the Mets. Fried and Manaea also declined QOs, so the A’s interest suggests they may be willing to forgo another pick.

Another route could be to acquire a player who earns a significant salary in a trade. For example, after signing Fried, the Yankees now have a surplus in their rotation and could look to move the rest Marcus Stroman‘s contract. He will make $18 million in 2025 and there is an $18 million player option for 2026 if he throws 140 innings next year. Stroman probably doesn’t have a good shot at a rotation job in the Bronx, but could serve as a solid veteran for the A’s.

Elsewhere on the Fried offer, WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that the Red Sox’ offer was “significantly” lower than the Yankees’. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Sox were at $190 million over seven years and could potentially have gone up even further, albeit with deferrals. Sherman adds that the Rangers were also at $190 million over seven years, although the lack of a state tax in Texas made that fairly comparable to the eight years and $210 million the Yankees were offering, which is what they did forced to go higher and symbolically surpass the $217 MM that David Price came from the Red Sox in 2015.

It’s perhaps not surprising that the Sox fell short of expectations given how high the number ended up being, but it underscores the fact that they weren’t able to achieve their main offseason goal of improving the rotation. They also had interest in pitchers like Blake Snell And Nathan Eovaldiwho went somewhere else. Trade talks with the White Sox over Garrett Crochet have apparently stalled. Correct Corbin Burnes is still out there, but it has been reported that they are less likely to win this tender than the Blue Jays or Giants.