Mets have deal with former Yanks RHP Severino (source)

NEW YORK — A Mets team in dire need of starting pitching began filling that void on Wednesday with a former standout from their neighboring borough. The team is in agreement on a one-year, $13 million deal with right-hander Luis Severino, a source told MLB.com, marking the first major signing of the David Stearns era.

The Mets have not confirmed the deal because it is not yet official.

Severino, 29, has spent his entire eight-year career with the Yankees, including All-Star seasons in 2017 and ‘18. But injuries began affecting him in a profound way via a right rotator cuff strain in 2019, followed by Tommy John surgery in ’20. Lat and oblique issues have since affected Severino, who made 18 starts last season and produced a 6.65 ERA.

As such, the range of outcomes for Severino in 2024 is wide. He remains one of the game’s hardest-throwing pitchers, ranking in the 88th percentile in fastball velocity. But he has not produced a full, healthy season in half a decade, and he struggled throughout the ’23 campaign.

Even so, Severino is a risk well worth taking for the Mets, given their hope of putting a contender on the field without agreeing to too many new long-term contracts. Severino’s injury history and lack of recent success made him available on a one-year deal.

The Mets now have three starters under guaranteed contract in Kodai Senga, José Quintana and Severino. They are among the favorites to land star Japanese free agent ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, though they face stiff competition from other big-market clubs on that front. Stearns, the club’s new president of baseball operations, has said he expects the Mets to land multiple starting pitchers this winter — that could mean two or three on guaranteed deals, depending upon how the rest of the offseason unfolds.