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Ex-Yankees All-Star Facing Major Problem Ahead of Trade Deadline

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jake Elman | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 12:23 PM ET

The good news for former New York Yankees star Luis Severino is that he, as his younger teammates might say, secured the bag last winter when he inked a three-year, $67 million deal with the Athletics.

The bad news? Severino might be stuck on the mediocre Athletics after all.

Rarely do teams trade a player, let alone a starting pitcher, during the first season of a three-year deal. However, the A's are the A's, and Severino could have easily parlayed a strong first half into landing with a contender ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

Instead, Severino is 2-8 with a 4.83 ERA and a 68-31 K-BB ratio in 100 2/3 innings. June has been especially unkind to the two-time All-Star, who has let up at least five runs in three of his five starts this month.

Severino allowed seven runs against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night, pushing his June ERA to 7.14 over 29 innings. ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel nonetheless gave Severino a 40% chance of being traded this summer.

"Severino tunnels his fastball/sinker/sweeper combo well to limit damage," Passan and McDaniel wrote, "but because he has a middling strikeout rate, his upside is limited to a No. 3/No. 4 starter."

Passan and McDaniel added that teams are "intrigued" by Severino's road numbers—and in fairness, Tuesday's outing at Comerica Park could be an outlier. That doesn't explain the rest of his poor June, though, and the excuse of pitching at Sutter Health Park only goes so far.

We've seen teams talk themselves into ignoring performance-based red flags and acquire players before, believing a change of scenery will reinvigorate them. For Severino's sake, he should hope a club like the Toronto Blue Jays or Chicago Cubs free him from a minor-league stadium.

Then again, Severino is already guaranteed $25 million next year, and he has a $22 million player option for 2027. His contract also includes a $500,000 trade assignment bonus, so he wins either way.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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