Yankees to activate Luis Severino’s 2023 contract extension option

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The New York Yankees are going to activate the fifth-year option in Luis Severino’s contract and keep the pitcher for the 2023 season. This was revealed by their general manager Brian Cashman on Friday while he was speaking during the end-of-season press meet.

Luis Severino signed a four-year, $40 million deal before the 2019 season and his contract has a fifth-year option for the Yankees valued at $15 million. Though Brian Cashman doesn’t have a contract with the franchise right now, he has a handshake agreement with the owners and looks certain to return. On Friday, Cashman told reporters that he plans to use the Yankees’ $15 million club option on the right-handed pitcher. He told:

“Yes. I mean, I haven’t talked to anybody about it yet, but he’s a really impactful pitcher. So, the answer to that would be an easy yes.”

Luis Severino, who will be 29 in February, started 19 games for the Yankees last season. This was his most games since 2018 and his most starts since 2018. In 102 innings, he had a 3.18 ERA (123 ERA+) and 3.73 strikeouts for every walk. Baseball-Reference did the math and found that his contributions were worth about 1.6 Wins Above Replacement.

Over the past few years, Luis Severino has had his fair share of health problems. He could only pitch three times in 2019 because of inflammation in his rotator cuff and a lat strain. He missed all of 2020 and only pitched four times in 2021 because he had Tommy John surgery. This season, Severino has also had to go on the IL twice. He missed more than two months because of another lat strain.

Still, it’s clear that the Yankees think Luis Severino can pitch when he’s healthy, and it’s unlikely that they could find a comparable talent for the same price.

Luis Severino’s option or even Cashman’s contract isn’t the most important thing for Cashman to deal with this winter. It’s if and how the Yankees will keep outfielder Aaron Judge, who has the most home runs in the American League and is likely to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

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