To the surprise of many in baseball, Luis Severino left New York, where he’d pitched for both the Yankees and Mets, and signed a three-year, $67 million deal with the Athletics before the 2025 season.
It wasn’t long before Severino complained about the conditions at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. And it’s no wonder — look at his home/road splits in 2025:
Home: 15 starts, 6.01 ERA, 1.530 WHIP, 10 home runs allowed in 82.1 innings
Road: 14 starts, 3.02 ERA, 1.071 WHIP, six home runs allowed in 80.1 innings
So yeah, it’s no wonder Severino complained about his new home park. Those home numbers scream out “DFA candidate.” A pitcher with those road numbers over a full season probably puts up somewhere around 4 or 5 WAR, which is the sort of pitcher Severino was in 2017 and 2018.
Okay, it’s several years after that, Severino’s older and has an injury history, including Tommy John surgery that kept him out all of 2020 and most of 2021. He also missed some time with an oblique strain in 2025.
Severino was the subject of some trade talk last summer but, as was the case with every single quality starter, the asking price was too high, and he stayed put.
You would think that not having to pitch half his schedule in Sacramento could restore Severino to at least a semblance of his 2017-18 self. He’s got a good pitch mix and his fastball still sits around 96:
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Severino is under contract for $25 million in 2026 and has a player option for $22 million in 2027 which, unless he has some sort of superb season in 2026, he’s likely to exercise. He turns 32 in February, so these two years are his age-32 and age-33 seasons.
Should the Cubs trade for him? If so, what would you offer the A’s beyond salary relief? Or, maybe the A’s would be willing to eat some of the money to get a better quality of prospect?
Have at it.
