Former Yankees star has completed his unlikely comeback journey

Luis Severino locked in a $67 million contract just one year after being let go by the Yankees.

Oct 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Luis Severino (40) reacts after an out against the Los Angeles Dodgers  in the first inning during game three of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field.
Oct 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Luis Severino (40) reacts after an out against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning during game three of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Almost exactly one year ago today, Luis Severino signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the New York Mets in free agency.

It was a pillow contract in every sense of the term, as the once-electrifying right-hander looked to rehabilitate his value following a ghastly 2023 performance with the Big Apple's other team, the Yankees.

In 2015, Severino made his MLB debut to much fanfare as a top prospect in the Yankees' farm system, posting impressive results (2.89 ERA, 2.0 WAR) in a moderate workload (62 1/3 innings). After a sophomore slump in 2016, the best version of Severino arrived.

Over a two-season stretch from 2017-18, "Sevy" accumulated a 33-14 record, 3.18 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 450-97 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and two top-ten Cy Young finishes in 384 2/3 innings pitched. He looked like the next great homegrown ace for the Evil Empire.

Then, reality struck, and Severino pitched just 18 innings total over the next three seasons, dealing with shoulder troubles and, eventually, Tommy John surgery. He returned with impressive gumption and a gritty performance over 19 starts in 2022, but the wheels completely fell of the next season, as he posted a 6.65 ERA and allowed an unthinkable 2.3 home runs per nine innings.

The Yankees, naturally, let him walk in free agency after that effort, and Severino found his chance at redemption with the Mets.

Athletics and Severino find each other after long, perilous journeys

Severino wasn't as dominant as his younger, healthier self for the Mets, but he proved that 2023 was an abberation, rather than the new standard. He made 31 starts and pitched 182 innings, marking the first time since 2018 that he reached either milestone. He was an effective innings-eater, pitching to a 3.91 ERA (101 ERA+) and a solid 161-60 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

His underlying metrics weren't as pretty, but the Mets helped him rediscover his best fastball, and that proved to be a big selling point in free agency. After years of injury troubles and substandard performance, Severino has been rewarded for his resilience, signing a three-year, $67 million contract with the Athletics.

Like Severino, the Athletics have been somewhat lost over the last few seasons. They have the fourth-most losses of any franchise since 2020, and they've been under immense fire as they've gone through the process of departing their longtime home of Oakland.

That's part of what makes the Severino deal so interesting — after years of being unwilling to pay to retain or obtain any of the sport's best players, the team has splurged on a free agent just as it's preparing to move into a minor league ballpark. Clearly, the A's had to overpay to win the Dominican pitcher's services, and they were willing to do so, perhaps in an effort to drum up some fanfare in the intermittent years before they make it to their new permanent home in Las Vegas.

Severino isn't the pitcher he once was, and at 30 years old (31 in February), he probably isn't going to revert into the dominant 2017-18 version of himself with the A's. However, his signing marks a turning point for a franchise that has taken penny-pinching quite literally over the last few decades, as well as a turning point for himself.

The work it must've taken to pull off is unimaginable, but it's fair to say, as the ace of the new Sacramento A's: Luis Severino is back.

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