TODAY : Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via ) has the breakdown of Severinos contract. The $10MM signing bonus is broken up at $5MM next month and $5MM in January 2026. The righty will earn $15MM this season and $20MM in 2026, so his player option for the 2027 season is worth $22MM. Severino will also get a $500K a signment bonus in the event of a trade. DECEMBER 6 : The As are ready to spend some cash, announcing Friday that theyve signed free agent righty to a three-year deal the third year of which is a player option. Severino, a client of Klutch Sports, will reportedly be guaranteed $67MM, to be paid out in the form of a $10MM signing bonus and $57MM in salary over the three seasons. He can opt out of the contract after year two and become a free agent once again in the 2026-27 offseason. Itll register as a shock for many to see the nomadic As, who will play next year in West Sacramentos Sutter Health Park (home to the Giants Triple-A affiliate), land a notable free agent with a hefty multi-year deal. Theyre in the proce s of relocating to Las Vegas and have been aggre sively pursuing free agents in an effort to boost a payroll that entered the offseason without a single contract on the books in 2025. Some free agents have entirely dismi sed the notion of playing in a minor league facility. Still, with a reported target payroll in the $100MM range, theres long been a po sibility for the As to be a surprise player in free agency. just such a po sibility at length last month. The general thinking has been that the As will need to overpay in order to pursue top-end free agents this winter. The terms of Severinos contract indeed suggest a clear willingne s to spend well beyond market expectations in order to lure free agents to their new home. Severinos deal includes both a larger guarantee than most anticipated and an opt-out opportunity. Because he rejected a qualifying offer from the Mets, Severino will cost the As their third-highest pick in next years draft. Hell also net the Mets a compensatory pick, albeit only between the fourth and fifth rounds because of their status as a luxury tax payor. The $100MM target payroll likely stems from the Athletics status as a revenue-sharing recipient. The franchise was stripped of its revenue-sharing benefits last decade after failing to sufficiently utilize those funds to improve the on-field product, as is a stipulated requirement. The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement restored the As as a revenue-sharing recipient, and theyve since spent modestly in free agency to keep payroll at least in step with the other lowest-spending clubs in the league. The deal with Severino signals a willingne s to spend a bit beyond that point. It is, incredibly, the largest contract in franchise history, nominally surpa sing the six-year, $66MM contract extension signed by third baseman more than two decades ago. [Related: ] Severino, 31, will immediately jump to the top of the As rotation. Hes likely ticketed for their Opening Day start, barring another notable acquisition via free agency or trade. Hell lead a staff that currently projects to also include , and . The As have a variety of in-house candidates for the fifth spot, though the Severino deal rather obviously opens the door Michael Pezzetta Jersey for GM David Forst to sign/trade for another starter of note to further solidify the bunch. Severino, of course, looked the part of a budding ace for the Yankees in 2017-18 when he posted 384 2/3 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 45.8% grounder rate in his age-23 and age-24 seasons. The flamethrowing righty averaged better than 97 mph on his heater, recorded a hefty 12.7% swinging-strike rate and generally had the makings of a star. The Yankees agreed, signing him to a four-year, $40MM extension with an option for a fifth season. That deal bought out all of Severinos arbitration years and his first free-agent season. At the time, some thought a pitcher with his upside and demonstrated excellence to date was perhaps selling himself short. In the long run, it worked out wonderfully, as injuries frequently kept Severino off the field and rendered him a shell of his former self when healthy enough to take the mound. From 2019-23, Severino managed only 209 1/3 innings in the majors, dealing with multiple lat strains and requiring Tommy John surgery along the way. His 2023 campaign included 89 1/3 frames with a 6.65 ERA. The 2024 season marked a resurgence for Severino, who inked a one-year, $13MM deal with the Mets on the heels of that injury-plagued finish to his Yankees tenure. The right-handers 182 innings nearly matched his total over the five prior calendar years. He logged a 3.91 ERA with a below-average but pa sable 21.2% strikeout rate and a strong 7.6% walk rate. His 46% ground-ball rate, while not elite, was comfortably north of league average. At the same time, Severino simply wasnt the dominant force he was earlier in his career. His average fastball with the Mets was about 1.5 mph off from its peak levels. His 9.4% swinging-strike rate was decidedly below-average a near mirror-image of his 9.1% mark in that disastrous 2023 season and nowhere close to his career-best 13.3% rate. Opponents made contact on just 81.9% of Severinos pitches within the strike zone in 2017-18 league-average was 84.7% but did so at a whopping 88.2% clip in 2024 (when the league average was 85.2%). When the Mets signed Severino to his one-year deal, it had the makings of an upside play on a former front-of-the-rotation arm. Last years rebound showed that he was healthy but also seemed to further support the notion that his prior ace-caliber form is in the rearview mirror. Severino now has the feel of a third or fourth starter, making his $22.333MM annual salary and an opt-out rather jarring. Many pundits thought Severino could have and should have accepted the Mets $21.05MM qualifying offer; he and his agents deserve credit for not simply eclipsing that guarantee in notable fashion but surpa sing that number on an annual basis over a lengthy deal that affords him another bite at free agency in the 2026-27 offseason. The contract tops recent guarantees for , who was seen as a steady and dependable No. 2-3 arm, and , whose torrid finish with the Astros made him one of the most sought-after pitchers on this offseasons market. Both pitchers signed for $63MM over the same three-year term. For the As, a commitment this weighty was likely deemed a nece sity to land a mid-rotation arm whose velocity and ground-ball tendencies perhaps create some hope that he can still eke out some incremental improvements over his 2024 form. That said, theres quite a bit of injury risk still a sociated with Severino, and fielding-independent metrics like FIP (4.21) and SIERA (4.22) were actually more bearish on his 2024 performance than his already solid-but-unspectacular earned run average. Theres little doubt he improves the club and shows that the As are serious about spending this winter, but its a steep price to pay when taken in totality. Severino will neverthele s add some credibility to a rotation that was largely lacking it. And the As, with a burgeoning core of quality players , , , , could hope that a few subsequent additions and strides from young talents like , and might help them exceed expectations sooner than most thought po sible. ESPNs Jeff Pa san first that the two sides agreed to a three-year, $67MM deal. Yahoos Ru sell Dorsey the signing bonus. Pa san on the opt-out. Jayden Struble Jersey