The Oakland Athletics made a splash on Thursday, agreeing to a franchise-record contract with free agent starting pitcher Luis Severino according to multiple reports. ESPN's Jeff Passan was first to report the news.
Severino's deal spans three years and is worth $67 million, the largest total value contract in franchise history, according to Spotrac. The deal includes an opt-out after the second season. Oakland, with the lowest payroll in MLB at $62,132,581, reportedly has designs on increasing that number into the $100 million range, as Passan noted.
The A's entered free agency in search of starting pitching after fielding a rotation with just three hurlers who exceeded the 100-inning mark. In Severino, Oakland lands a dependable starter with nine years of MLB experience.
Finishing third in the American League Cy Young Award race in 2017 as a member of the New York Yankees, Severino was once regarded as an ace. However, the Dominican Republic native was plagued by shoulder and elbow injuries, which ultimately brought about the end of his eight-year (2015 to '23) tenure in the Bronx.
Severino then inked a one-year deal with the Mets in November of '23—and authored a bounce-back season. He pitched to a 3.91 ERA while striking out 161 batters in 182 innings, helping the Mets reach the National League Championship Series.
Oakland, which will play in a minor-league ballpark in Sacramento for the next three seasons before its planned move to Las Vegas, now has a veteran righthander atop its rotation, as well as a key building block as it looks to bolster the seventh-youngest roster in MLB.
More of the Latest Around MLB
This article was originally published on www.si.com as A's Sign Former Mets, Yankees Pitcher to Franchise-Record Contract.
