Yankees Commit Robbery and Lock Up Luis Severino For Four Years - Now Pray He Can Become An Ace Again

Well this is incredible news on this lazy Friday isn’t it? The Yankees essentially bought out Luis Severino’s final four years of arbitration and gave him the stability he wanted, while avoiding a big number. This is a very similar deal that Aaron Nola got from the Phillies the other day when he received a four year deal worth $45 million.

So what does this deal mean? Well for starters, we won’t have to deal with any arbitration hearings in the future with Sevy. We’re essentially paying one of the best arms in the game $10 million a year, which is obviously a steal if he reverts back to his ace stuff. I mean it’s ROBBERY if he snaps out of this funk. Lance Lynn is making $10 million next year for Christ’s sake. So if you’re Severino why would you do this? As Jeff Passan points out, the salary numbers for 2020 and 2021 are higher than usual for a pitcher in their arbitration years. That 2022 number is lower that usual and there’s a reason for it: The fear of a work stoppage when the CBA expires in a few years. It’s really terrifying that players are bracing for the worst with contract extensions like this one, but that’s the reality we live in. Still, those numbers are low when you think what he can command in arbitration with one big bounce back year. I love it.

So bottomline…Severino is happy. The Yankees are happy. Let’s have a season folks. Severino is the key. He always has been. If he’s not our ace, the Yankees won’t win a World Series. He has to find himself from the first half last season when he was one of the best pitchers in the sport. There are very few right handed pitchers who are better than Sevy when he’s on. He has laugh out loud stuff when he’s locked in.

Everything falls into place if he shows up. If Sevy establishes himself as the ace once again, then Paxton (a potential ace) can comfortably slide into the number 2 spot. Tanaka, who can pitch to a 2 starter potential, fits in as a three. Happ, who is really a 3, is our 4. That is a rock solid starting rotation, with CC rounding out the 5th spot. People shit on the Yankees starting pitching, but they’re simply uninformed. It could very well be a strength in 2019.