NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 3: Luis Severino #40 of the New York Yankees celebrates during the American League Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Brian Cashman has been adamant that Luis Severino is the Yankees ace all winter long. Now he’s put the team’s money where his mouth is.
It never seemed very logical that the Yankees would take Luis Severino to arbitration over less than a million dollars. As it turns out, the team won’t go to court with their ace hurler at all. Instead, GM Brian Cashman has struck a deal that will keep Severino in pinstripes for years to come.
The best part about Severino’s new deal from the Yankees perspective is how little the team was required to spend. The deal will keep the dominant righty in the fold for another four years for just $40 million in guaranteed money. That will allow Severino to hit free agency again in his prime, but that’s an issue the Yankees will gladly deal with down the line.
It’s a very team friendly deal for the Yankees, but it makes sense for Severino too. He gets a significant salary bump this season compared to what he would have made via arbitration. Essentially, Severino gave up the potential to sign a massive deal by getting paid a reasonable sum a year early than the Yankees would have needed to do otherwise.
Aside from keeping Severino happy, the deal has a lot of other ancillary benefits for Cashman and company. Mainly, they can now turn their attention to negotiating long-term deals for some of the team’s other young stars. Aaron Judge, in particular, seems like a player the Yankees will want to keep around for the duration of his career. Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres could also fall into the same category after another season or two.
Without a doubt, the best thing this contract does for the Yankees is put Severino into a healthy mental place before he begins the 2019 season. He won’t suffer through the contentious process of arbitration and he can easily believe Yankees brass when they tell him they want him to be their ace for years to come. It’s a great day for Severino, but an even greater day for the Yankees.