Right-hander Luis Severino and Mets finalize $13 million, 1-year contract

NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Severino and the New York Mets finalized a $13 million, one-year contract on Friday that moves the oft-injured right-hander across town from the Yankees.

Severino can earn an additional $2 million in performance bonuses for starts: $500,000 for 27 and $750,000 apiece for 29 and 31.

A two-time All-Star, the 29-year-old right-hander went 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA in 18 starts and one relief appearance while earning $15 million in the option year of a contract that paid him $52.5 million over five seasons. He has spent his entire eight-year career in pinstripes, going 54-37 with a 3.79 ERA in 141 games, including 125 starts.

Earlier in the week, the Mets agreed to one-year contracts with Joey Wendle and Austin Adams. Wendle gets a $2 million salary and can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances: $100,000 each for 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450. Adams gets an $800,000 salary in the major leagues and $180,000 in the minors, and can earn $500,000 in the big leagues for games pitched: $100,000 each for 15, 25, 35, 45 and 55,

The Mets have several holes to fill in their rotation under new president of baseball operations David Stearns, and they’re hoping Severino can regain the form that once made him one of the best starters in the American League.

It’s the second time this offseason the Mets have stayed in New York City and plucked a new addition from the crosstown-rival Yankees. Earlier this month, they hired former Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as their manager.

Mendoza spent the last four seasons working under skipper Aaron Boone on a Yankees team that got only 37 regular-season starts from an injury-plagued Severino during that span — all in the past two years.

He went 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA in 31 starts at age 23 in 2017, finishing third in AL Cy Young Award voting. The next year he was 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA in 32 starts, making his second All-Star squad.

Severino surpassed 190 innings pitched in both those seasons, but is just 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA over 45 starts in the five years since as injuries took a toll. He strained a latissimus dorsi muscle in 2019 and didn’t make his first start until Sept. 17. He made two more starts in the postseason, then had Tommy John surgery on Feb. 27, 2020.

Severino returned in September 2021 and made three appearances, then missed two months in 2022 because of right shoulder tightness. He finished 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 19 regular-season starts before making two more in the playoffs.

But this year was a wreck. Severino didn’t make his debut until May 21 because of a strained lat muscle, and his season ended Sept. 8 due to a high-grade left oblique strain. He went 2-0 in his final three starts after going 0-4 with a 14.18 ERA in his previous four appearances.

The Mets were one of baseball’s biggest disappointments last season, finishing fourth in the NL East at 75-87 despite the highest payroll in major league history. They are eagerly seeking pitching this offseason, with NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Kodai Senga and veteran left-hander José Quintana the only holdovers assured spots in a projected 2024 rotation.

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