Luis Severino is now a member of the A’s pitching staff after reportedly agreeing to a three-year deal worth $67 million on Thursday, according to Yahoo Sports’ Russell Dorsey.
The deal is the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history and includes a $10 million signing bonus and an opt-out clause after the second season.
The 30-year-old right-hander spent last season with the New York Mets after starting his Major League career pitching for nine years for the New York Yankees. Through 31 starts in 2024, he posted a 3.91 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 182 innings pitched. He was ranked No. 13 on Yahoo Sports’ list of this winter’s top 50 free agents.
The Mets protected themselves in this situation by making Severino a qualifying offer, a one-year guaranteed deal worth $21.05 million, which he rejected. Now that Severino has moved on, the Mets will receive draft pick compensation.
The 2024 season was Severino’s first fully healthy season since 2018, as he dealt with lat and oblique strains and missed the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Severino had a one-year contract with the Mets. He compiled an 11–7 record during the regular season and started three playoff games. He pitched 182 innings across 31 starts — his most since 2018 — and posted a 3.91 ERA and 1.24 WHIP while striking out 21.2% of batters and walking 7.9% of batters.
The A’s will play in a 14,000-seat minor league stadium in Sacramento for the next three seasons before expectedly moving to a brand new stadium in Las Vegas for the 2028 MLB season.
What about Severino’s deal with the A’s?
Baseball’s first stunning signing of the offseason took place Thursday, with reports that right-handed pitcher Luis Severino has agreed to a three-year, $67 million deal with the former Oakland soon-to-be Sacramento native. athletics in Las Vegas. Severino agreeing to a deal in early December isn’t surprising given the recent uptick in activity in the starting pitching market, which has seen five pitchers on our Top 50 free-agent rankings find new homes in recent weeks.
But that the A’s — in their transition phase and with the lowest payroll in baseball at the start of the winter — were the team that would outbid other would-be suitors for Severino’s services? That’s a pretty big shock. After nearly a decade pitching in the league’s largest market in New York, Severino will pitch in Sacramento in 2025 as the A’s begin their multi-year transition to Las Vegas with an interim phase playing home games at a Triple-A ballpark .
Severino’s $10 million signing bonus is significant. The A’s were one of the best teams in baseball last year in the second half and now have an experienced player in their rotation. The starting pitching market, as you can see, is moving towards the Winter Meetings. https://t.co/9zpqljov14
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) December 5, 2024
Severino’s career began as a young star pitcher in the Bronx with the Yankees, making the All-Star Game and receiving down-ballot votes from Cy Young in 2017 and 2018. Injuries derailed his ascent shortly thereafter, culminating in an unfortunate end to his Yankees tenure. . But Severino bounced back in a big way after going crosstown to pitch for the Mets in 2024. He delivered a fully healthy campaign, demonstrating his ability to tailor his arsenal while maintaining a full-season workload. The soon-to-be 31-year-old right-hander re-entered the open market this winter in prime position to land a lucrative multi-year deal, presumably from a contending team looking for rotation reinforcements. Instead, the A’s have emerged with 93 losses, making Severino more than just a supporting mid-rotation starter, but rather a bona fide front-line arm.
Aside from the unusual optics, Severino is a no-brainer selection. Oakland’s lineup, headlined by Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler, was quietly one of the best in baseball in the second half of last year, a reminder that despite all the circumstances surrounding the franchise, this roster might be closer to the league can stand than many think. But the pitching staff – especially the rotation – was very short on proven talent. Developing bullpen aces like Mason Miller or Lucas Erceg is certainly valuable, but the Athletics’ lack of starting pitching has left them playing from behind far too often as their solid lineup or sneaky nasty bullpen could make a difference.
Severino immediately becomes the team’s new asset, and his signing could signal more aggressiveness from the A’s in free agency if the team is serious about building a competitive roster quickly, rather than playing a slow rebuild in their first year in Sacramento. — Shusterman
