Luis Severino might've ruined Yankees' chances with desired free agent target

There wasn't a single baseball fan in existence who wasn't shocked by Luis Severino inexplicably signing a three-year, $67 million contract with the location-less Athletics, who are currently orchestrating a move to Las Vegas but are stuck in Sacramento for the foreseeable future.

The former New York Yankees starter parlayed a bounce-back season with the Mets into financial security, so credit where credit's due. But the A's, who were clearly under pressure by MLB to expand their payroll during the relocation and, as a result made Severino the highest-paid player in franchise history, ended up being the choice?

Plenty of contenders would've paid Severino in the $20 million range across multiple years, but it's doubtful many were willing to go as far as the A's did. And now that it's done, we must talk about how this affects the market.

The Yankees are very much impacted by this, especially if they're eyeing pitchers on shorter-term deals. They have to consider such options, too, given the amount of immovable long-term contracts on their payroll.

Per reports earlier this offseason, the Yankees and Walker Buehler had mutual interest, but it's very possible the right-hander was priced out of New York after Severino's deal amid the current Juan Soto chase (a sweepstakes already in the $600 million range).

Yankees News: Luis Severino's contract with Athletics will affect free agent market

That deal will pay Severino $22.33 million per season, which has him earning more than guys like Chris Bassitt, Nick Martinez, Joe Musgrove, Chris Sale and Framber Valdez on an AAV basis. Just about all of those pitchers blow Severino out of the water in terms of consistency and big-game capability.

So what will Buehler and, for example, Nathan Eovaldi be looking for now? Those two are postseason stalwarts and have a much better career track record that Severino, even if Buehler's injury concerns since 2022 loom large. Don't forget, Severino's entire career has been hampered by injuries, which has now been rendered useless as an argument after he signed with the A's.

Buehler's dominant showing in the 2024 playoffs (after the NLDS) en route to a World Series victory can now be magnified as an indisputable sticking point in negotiations. And you only have to rewind to 2021 for the right-hander's last dominant season. Now that he's out of the woods after multiple surgeries, there's even more of an argument for teams to potentially take the plunge at an elevated price.

Or, even worse, the Yankees just don't deem the escalated salary worth their time and they move on to a cheaper, less effective option. Somehow, Severino falling further into irrelevancy has a negative impact on his former team.