Athletics shock baseball world with Luis Severino signing

If you had to double check the headline of this article, we don’t blame you. The Athletics surprised the baseball world on Thursday with their big splash into the free agent market.

The A’s handed right-hander Luis Severino the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history. The club, which is set to play in Sacramento for the next three seasons before a planned move to Las Vegas, now has a pitcher who can slide atop its rotation. 

Here’s a closer look at the transaction:

The deal: 

Luis Severino agrees to a three-year, $67-million contract with the Athletics. The deal reportedly contains an opt-out after the second year.

The runners up: 

The New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays had been linked to Severino and are now among the clubs that will have to pursue starting pitching help elsewhere.

The player:

Severino broke into the majors with the New York Yankees in 2015 and soon became one of the best young pitchers in the game. However, his rise was abruptly halted in 2019 when he lost most of the season to a lat strain. Tommy John surgery on his right elbow then forced Severino to miss all of the 2020 campaign and most of 2021.

The right-hander was solid when he returned in 2022 but regressed severely in ’23 to the tune of a 6.65 ERA. Those struggles led to the end of his relationship with the Yankees and paved the way for Severino to ink a one-year, $13-million “pillow” deal with the crosstown Mets one year ago.

Severino enjoyed a comeback season and showed that he was back to full strength by making 31 starts and tossing 182 innings — both numbers were his most since 2018. The right-hander will be 31 next season and while his fastball still averages just above 96 m.p.h., he no longer overpowers hitters like he once did. His strikeout rate of 21.2 last season was a far drop from the neighbourhood of 30 per cent that he lived in during his prime.

The veteran righty has evolved, though, and can still pitch. Severino did an excellent job of limiting hard contact last season and ranked in the 88^th percentile of pitchers in average exit velocity.

The fit:

The A’s finished fourth in the National League West last season on the heels of two straight years in fifth place. While more moves will be necessary to ensure an upward trajectory within the division, the Severino signing does signify a solid start and a move toward respectability. He will lead a rotation that also includes JP Sears, Joey Estes and Mitch Spence.

The club has indicated a willingness to spend more this winter and that explains the deal for Severino, who comes at the additional cost of draft-pick penalties because he had a qualifying offer attached to him. 

Severino’s contract narrowly eclipses the six-year, $66-million extension the A’s handed third-baseman Eric Chavez in 2004, and becomes the largest outlay in the organization’s history.

The market: 

MLB Trade Rumours forecasted a three-year, $51-million deal for Severino. He bested that by an impressive $16 million.

The next domino: 

Severino slotted into the middle tier of free agent starters and while his contract likely won’t impact the likes of Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, it does highlight the value that organizations are placing on pitching this winter.