The New York Mets are reportedly one of many teams that are looking to add a former two-time All-Star from the New York Yankees to their starting rotation for 2024.
Heading into the MLB offseason, there are many organizations looking to improve their starting rotations for next season. The New York Mets are at the front of that line because the organization shipped off their top two pitchers — Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer — before the trade deadline this summer.
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There are a few elite-level arms on the free agent market this winter, including National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, All-Star Sonny Gray, and gifted Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. However, there are also quite a few starting pitchers with upside that could be had at a more affordable rate.
One player that fits that criteria is New York Yankees starter Luis Severino. While the eight-year veteran has struggled with injuries throughout his career and is coming off a rough showing in 2023 when he posted a 6.65 ERA, he is still only 29 and does have two trips to the All-Star game on his resume.
New York Mets targeting Luis Severino in free agency
The latter factoids are why the Dominican talent is probably drawing notable interest on the open market this month, and on Saturday, The Athletic MLB reporter Will Sammon revealed that “the Mets are among the teams that have shown interest in Luis Severino and plan to soon meet with the right-hander.”
All signs point to the Yankees not being expected to try and bring Severino back after dealing with the headache of his long injury history over the last eight seasons. That is good news for the New York Mets since the franchise is reportedly interested in signing multiple starting pitchers this winter and would like to be a bit more conservative with their spending this offseason and spread their money around a bit more.
- Luis Severino stats (2023): 4-8, 6.65 ERA, 1.646 WHIP, 79 SO, 89.1 IP
Severino seemed to be a rising star and hit a peak when he went to back-to-back All-Star games in 2018 and 2019. However, after requiring Tommy John surgery he has not been the same player. Interested teams may be hoping that his 2022 performance where he went 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA might be a sign he can still return to his ace form in the future.