Price tag for Reds' trade target will skyrocket in wake of absurd Luis Severino deal

The Sacramento (soon to be Las Vegas) Athletics surprised nearly everyone on Thursday after agreeing to terms with right-handed starter Luis Severino on a three-year, $67 million deal. The A's, much like the Cincinnati Reds, are notoriously thrifty, so to see them spend heavily in free agency was a shock to the system.

Severino had a fine year with the New York Mets, going 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA and 161 punch outs in 182 innings of work. But let's not pretend like Severino is a world-beater. In 2023, the righty went 4-8 with a 6.65 ERA while appearing in 19 games for the New York Yankees.

Severino pitches to contact and has a vast repertoire, but the 30-year-old is a middle-of-the-rotation arm on most pitching staffs throughout baseball. This drastic overpay on the part of the A's is only going to up the ante for the Reds in their rumored trade talks with the Chicago White Sox.

Reds' price tag for Garrett Crochet will skyrocket in wake of absurd Luis Severino deal

The Reds were linked to White Sox ace Garrett Crochet earlier this week, but after Severino's absurd contract with the A's netted the hurler an average annual value of $22.3 million, the price tag for Chicago starter just went through the roof.

Prices for starting pitching were already high, but the A's overpay will only see them increase. When it comes to free agency, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried are in the top-tier of the market, but the teams that miss out on those two (and Crochet) will be forced to overpay for the likes of Jack Flaherty, Nathan Eovaldi, and Sean Manaea.

Furthermore, it's not just Severino's $22.3 AAV, but the fact that draft compensation was attached to his signing. Because Severino rejected the Mets' qualifying offer, the A's (of all teams) will forced to surrender a draft pick. This is madness.

Thankfully, the Reds have a solid stable of young starting pitchers who are under team control for years to come. Cincinnati also has Nick Martinez under contract for the 2025 season and traded for Kansas City Royals' starter Brady Singer. Adding Crochet would be quite the addition for the Reds, but even without him, the Cincinnati's pitching staff is good enough to compete in the NL Central next season.

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