On December 6th, the Athletics did something nobody predicted: they signed Luis Severino to a 3-year, $67M contract.
It's a big raise for Severino, who made $13M with the New York Mets last season. It's also the largest contract in A's history, topping Eric Chavez's 2005 deal by $1M.
Severino is an odd player to splurge on; he's an injury-prone pitcher coming off a mediocre season, but for the A's, he's their new opening-day starter. By signing Severino, GM David Forst is conveying to the rest of the MLB that the team's long-winded fire sale is over, he's finished tanking, and when the team finally settles in Las Vegas in 2028, it will be competitive.
For a fun comparison in a tough situation, in the movie Major League, Rachel Phelps wins the Cleveland Indians from her husband in their divorce. She hates Cleveland, so she finds a loophole allowing her to move the team to Miami if they don't reach a specific yearly attendance. Driven by a desire to relocate from Oakland to Las Vegas, that's how A's owner John Fisher has been running his team for the past three seasons.
Is the Severino signing an isolated incident or the beginning of a trend?
They've always been known for a spendthrift approach to roster construction. It started with the Moneyball era and GM Billy Beane, who learned to exploit market inefficiencies during free agency and win. From 1998-2014, the A's finished .500 or better 12 times and made the playoffs eight times despite a significant payroll disadvantage.
With GM Forst, from 2018-2021, they were 316-230 (.579 winning percentage), but then ownership started to butt heads with the Oakland municipality over the desire for a new stadium, and the team tanked; from 2022-2024, they were 179-307 (.368 winning percentage).
They traded anybody worth anything, slashing payroll to MLB lows, and at their nadir in 2023, they lost 112 games, the worst season since the team moved to Oakland in the 1960s.
Earlier this offseason, there were rumors that the A's were pursuing Walker Buehler. The rumor was Buehler spurned them since he wasn't keen on playing in Sacramento (where the wandering A's will call home until their Vegas stadium opens in 2028).
At the time, it seemed farfetched that the A's would make a serious offer to any free agent since it goes against the franchise's ethos and that the rumors were nothing more than lip service to a frustrated fan base, but in the wake of the Severino signing, those rumors seem sincere. The A's are dipping their toes in uncharted waters, but it will take more than one signing to change the culture.
Before Severino signed, the A's 2025 payroll was $4.5M. The cynical take is that they were throwing money at whoever would take it to avoid the embarrassment of having MLB's lowest payroll in history (in terms of % of total league payroll). At $22.33M, Severino makes approximately 500% of their previously projected payroll, and their second highest-paid player, Brent Rooker, is paid $3.5M. So, they still have plenty of room to spend if they choose to.
It makes sense that Forst has been chasing starting pitching, which is their biggest weakness. The A's finished 26th out of 30 teams with a 4.76 ERA in 2024. Severino won't fix that all by himself, and since they've already declared him their Opening Day starter, it looks like he'll be getting little help.
But the A's rebuild has some bright spots. Rooker's .927 OPS was eighth in the MLB last year, and he's a legit middle-of-the-order bat. Lawrence Butler surprised everyone and blossomed into an All-Star in the second half of last season. Shea Langeleirs was second in home runs for a catcher behind Cal Raleigh. Zack Gelof struggled in his sophomore season in 2024, but as a rookie in 2023, he had a .840 OPS in 270 at-bats.
They also have promising youngsters like Jacob Wilson, son of former All-Star Jack Wilson, who hit .433/.474/.688 across three levels in the minor leagues, and Tyler Soderstrom, who's a former top-50 prospect with power. And that fails to mention perhaps their most exciting player, fireballing closer Mason Miller.
This team is trending in the right direction without needing to add more from free agency. However, they still need better starting pitching, and the A's farm system isn't bustling with young talent, especially for a team that's been effectively tanking the last few seasons.
So, even though the A's are getting better, it will still take a couple of years to get where they're going... precisely in time for their new stadium opening in Las Vegas.
Editor Update: For all the merriment about the Athletics finally spending (even though it comes after they left Oakland), it apparently wasn't fully done of their own volition. The team reportedly has been threatened with a well-substantiated grievance from the MLBPA if they don't drastically increase payroll this offseason.