Luis Severino Got 13 Million Dollars From The Mets And I Continue To NOT Understand The Pitching Market

I've never understood the pitching market. There are certain instances where I understand why pitchers like Kyle Gibson might get more money than one thinks they deserve. We live in an age in which pictures blow out their arms exceptionally. There is something to be said about availability. Having a durable fourth or fifth starter does mean something, but I was blown away when I saw that Luis Severino got a one-year, $13 million deal from the New York Mets yesterday.

Is it possible that Luis Severino will find it again and become a solid Major League pitcher? Yeah, sure. Anything is possible. But I think there's a meager percentage chance of that happening. It's bizarre how this works because if Severino was a position player, he'd be somebody like Cody Bellinger, who was given close to a league-minimum contract and forced to prove himself the next season. The fact that a guy who was across the board one of the worst pitchers in baseball last year got $13 million from a big market team is stunning to me.

I could at least accept this being a thing if Severino was still making 30 starts a year, but he's not. The guy hasn't been fully healthy since maybe the middle of the 2018 season. And Severino was filthy at his peak. He really did seem like a guy who had a Cy Young ceiling. I know that the Mets need pitching, and their hope is that Severino becomes the ultimate reclamation project, but the Detroit Tigers just gave Kenta Maeda a two-year contract. Maeda also has his issues, but his floor is much higher than Severino's. Honestly, I kind of expected somebody to give Severino a minor league deal, and perhaps he could turn into a dynamite closer. The idea of him becoming an acceptable starter again seems kind of far-fetched.

Look, Steve Cohen has the money to throw around. I don't think he's going to lament this $13 million deal even if Severino ends up being what he was last season. If he finds himself again, the Mets may have a solid trade piece at the deadline, but that's about it. I just think this will open the door for some pretty bloated pitching contracts. I think Michael Lorenzen is a better pitcher than Luis Severino at this point in his career. What's he going to get? One year, $20 million? It is bizarre how the game of baseball continues to devalue the starting pitcher. Yet, they earn life-changing money whenever a completely subpar starting pitcher hits the free agent market. Make it make sense.