Luis Severino's response to difference between Yankees and Mets was out of this world

It's very hard to play in New York. Everybody knows that. And we definitely don't minimize that whatsoever. It's not for everybody, and it's part of the recruitment process for the Yankees year in and year out.

All we ask for, however, is to avoid players who are square pegs in a round hole; those who would be oil to the Yankees' water. But time and time again, Brian Cashman and Co. have failed beyond comprehension on that front.

Gleyber Torres is the latest example, FOUR YEARS running. But they'll keep running it back. Let's check the rest of our notes. Hmmm. Josh Donaldson. Joey Gallo. Whatever happened to Aaron Hicks and Gary Sánchez. Clint Frazier. Harrison Bader. Sonny Gray. Domingo Germán.

And don't forget about Luis Severino! Another Yankee, along with Torres, Sánchez and Frazier, whose career got off to a magnificent start before years of regression and depression. What'd the Yankees do? They let the time expire as slowly as they possibly could.

Unsurprisingly, the Torres situation reached a boiling point (again) during the Subway Series. And they were reminded of Severino's dreadful 2019-2023 showing with the team in the less than 60 seconds the right-hander spent with the media.

Luis Severino's response to difference between Yankees and Mets was out of this world

Ah, yes, another player who can't live without having a beard. If you thought that was a joke, you are wrong. The Yankees continue to acquire players who love their facial hair, as evidenced by the fact they immediately sport some sort of new look the moment they're cut loose.

But that tongue-in-cheek response wasn't even the most alarming segment of Severino's answer. He said it was "more calm" being with the Mets because "nobody was expecting us to win this year and there's been less pressure for us." He acknowledged the expectations that come with playing for the Yankees and how that increased the stakes.

Just what you want to hear from your former "future cornerstone ace": somebody who feels more comfortable in a dimmer spotlight because of a perceived losing environment. Maybe Severino didn't intend it to come across that way, but it did, because there's no ignoring how his Yankees tenure ended.

He failed to communicate injury troubles to the Yankees' medical staff. After that resulted in Tommy John surgery, he continued to get dinged up along the way with seemingly minor-to-middling ailments that he made sound beyond severe (remember the oblique strain that he said felt like a gunshot wound?). He publicly called out the team on multiple occasions for non-issues. After his backslide during the second half of 2018, he never really performed again, coming up shorter ... and shorter ... and shorter as the years progressed.

Was Severino partially to blame? Absolutely. But it's on the Yankees for letting it drag out as long as it did. They had outs with Sevy, just like they did Torres, just like they did Sánchez, just like they did Germán. They never learn.

Severino proved that to us during a series where Torres might've reached peak hatred among the fans. Everything happens for a reason, doesn't it?