Luis Severino, a talented pitcher, just signed a 3-year, $67 million contract with the Oakland Athletics. This is the biggest contract in the team’s history! The deal also includes a $10 million signing bonus and a chance for him to leave the contract after two years if he wants.
Severino spent part of 2024 with the New York Mets, after playing most of his career with the New York Yankees. In 2024, he had a strong year, making 31 starts and pitching a total of 182 innings.
He finished with a 3.91 ERA (which measures how good he was at stopping runs) and 161 strikeouts, showing he could still pitch at a high level. He also helped the Mets make the playoffs, even though they didn’t go far.
But Severino has had some tough years. He missed the entire 2019 season because of Tommy John surgery (a surgery to fix a damaged elbow), and he struggled with some injuries like lat and oblique strains in the following seasons.
His 2023 season was rough, with the Yankees, where he had his worst stats ever, with a 6.65 ERA. Still, 2024 was better for him because it was the first time in a while he was fully healthy.
Throughout his career, Severino has been a strong pitcher, earning two All-Star selections. Over 9 seasons, he’s pitched a total of 638 innings and has 709 strikeouts.
In 2024, he made some changes to his pitching style by using a sinker (a type of pitch) more and adding a new sweeper pitch, which helped him get better results.
Now with the Athletics, Severino is hoping to keep up his good work. The Athletics are planning to move to Las Vegas in 2028, but for now, they will play in a minor league stadium in Sacramento.
The Mets will get a draft pick as compensation for Severino leaving, since he turned down their qualifying offer.
