SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Before his introductory press conference on Friday as the newest member of the Athletics, Luis Severino was joined by his wife, Rosmaly, and agent Nelson Montes de Oca, for a full tour of Sutter Health Park, the club’s temporary home for at least the next three seasons before a planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028.
Once the offseason got underway, A’s general manager David Forst immediately began to ponder what the appetite might be for free agents to play in a Minor League ballpark that will be shared with the Sacramento River Cats -- the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants -- and has undergone several upgrades to get its facilities up to Major League standards. The smile that came over Severino’s face while observing the ongoing construction -- particularly as he got a sneak peek of the new two-story A’s clubhouse -- told Forst everything he needed to know.
“We had a lot of questions at the beginning about where we would be playing,” Severino admitted. “It’s going to be fun. I think everything is going to look really good. We’ll see the finishes at the end. I’m not an architect, but I think it’s going to be great.”
After closing a 57-year chapter of baseball in Oakland this year, the A’s are entering a new era about 90 miles up north. Bringing a young team on the rise that improved upon its 2023 win total by 19 games last season, Forst was looking to make a “big statement” upon arriving to a new city.
That message was sent on Friday afternoon. In the backdrop of the A’s new home ballpark, there was Severino just down the road at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento, being introduced after signing a two-year, $67 million deal with a player option for 2027 that goes down as the largest guaranteed contract handed out by the A’s in franchise history.
“We’ve spent the last couple of years trying to make improvements incrementally,” Forst said. “We feel like this is a good young team without a lot of experience, but with a lot of talent. … Signing someone with Luis’ experience and his ability to be a leader on the field was important to us. … This was the perfect guy for us to come in, lead this staff and use what he’s learned in very big markets to take the mound Opening Day.”
Through a rebuilding process over the previous two seasons, the A’s have developed a core of young players they believe can help them take a big step toward getting back to playoff contention in 2025. Taking that next step requires supplementing that talent by improving the club’s areas of need, which Forst identified last month as starting pitching and third base.
The A’s have long been aware of Severino’s abilities. They saw it firsthand when he pitched for the Yankees and shut them down in the 2018 Wild Card Game with four scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium. Forst also noted Severino’s three solid postseason starts for the Mets to help New York on its deep playoff run this past October.
Severino himself is a believer of what the A’s are building. He took note of the talent on display when the A’s visited Citi Field in August and took two of three from the Mets, giving him flashbacks of that scrappy squad he faced in the postseason six years prior.
“When they played us in New York, this team looked like the 2018 A’s,” Severino said. “A young team that got to the playoffs. They were hungry to go onto the field and play winning baseball. I’m excited to be part of this team and part of a new organization. I think we’re going to head in a good direction.”
Severino, who turns 31 in February, bounced back this year with the Mets following a string of injury-riddled seasons with the Yankees, posting a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts with 161 strikeouts in 182 innings. While he showcased a four-seamer that averaged 96.2 mph in 2024, he is a much different pitcher from the young electric arm who finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting in 2017. This version of Severino is a lot more polished, having evolved from a hard thrower to a true pitcher who relies more on soft contact than whiffs to get hitters out with an excellent sweeper against which opponents hit .139 last season.
“When I was younger, knowing I could throw hard, even if I knew a hitter was a good fastball hitter, I would still go in there trying to overpower him,” Severino said. “Now I have more experience. I try to attack hitters a different way, and I think that helped me this year.”
Severino has been tabbed as the leader of a young A’s rotation that currently projects to have JP Sears, Joey Estes, Mitch Spence and a likely battle for the final spot. Of course, signing Severino does not necessarily mean the A’s might be done adding arms.
“We still have some holes we’d like to fill and further upgrades to the roster,” Forst said. “Landing someone of Luis’ caliber was the first priority. I’m excited for that.”