Luis Severino Signing Reflects Sudden Pressure Surrounding A’s

Athletics owner John Fisher is obligated to build a more competitive team in Sacramento—and he must overpay free agents to do so.

Severino made a full season’s worth of starts in 2024 for the first time in six years. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Oakland A’s made a large overpayment Thursday to sign free agent pitcher Luis Severino (three years, $67 million, with an opt out after two years; loss of third draft pick), which is the only way they can get a free agent to play in a minor league ballpark for the next three or four years through the oppressive heat of summer in West Sacramento. It makes sense only if there is more to come.

Owner John Fisher ran the payroll down the past three seasons to 29th, 30th and 30th in MLB while scheming to move the team to Las Vegas. Now that plans are in place for that to happen, Fisher needs to consolidate the $1 billion or so he’s putting into the ballpark by investing in the product. He needs to build momentum to get Las Vegas officials, sponsors and prospective fans behind the team.

The A’s may be on the upswing. They were 39–37 in their final 76 games this season. Calls from other teams about Mason Miller, Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler become moot. The payroll could almost double from an embarrassingly low $61 million.

The A’s paid Severino more in AAV ($22.3 million) than recent deals for Michael Wacha ($17 million), Marcus Stroman ($18.5 million), Eduardo Rodriguez ($20 million), Chris Bassitt ($21 million) and Kevin Gausman ($22 million), pitchers with more durability recently. From 2021–23 Severino, who turns 31 in February, made only 37 starts and was 12–11 with a 4.65 ERA.

But he put together a solid bounceback season with the Mets this year by leaning on his reshaped sweeper, a new sinker and better fitness. When the Mets signed Severino they put him in touch with nutritionists and high-performance coaches who discovered, among other issues, that he was spending too much time on devices late at night, robbing himself of proper rest and recovery. Severino also dedicated himself to better training habits. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Severino was seen infrequently in the workout room when both were with the Yankees but was a steady presence there this year. 

Like Gausman, Bassitt, Tyler Anderson, Nathan Eovaldi, Seth Lugo and Sean Manaea, Severino is a solid rotation addition who could be looking at the start of a second-stage boost in his career. Next up: the market just got better for Eovaldi, Manaea and Jack Flaherty, starting pitchers also in the tier below ace.

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