is scheduled to start for the Athletics on Sunday when the Mets and As face off in Sacramento, and as the veteran righty gets set to face his old team, Severino opened up about New Yorks limited pursuit of a reunion last winter when Severino was a free agent Brandon Dixon Jersey . Severino told and other media members that he had interest in re-signing with the Mets last winter, and said he told my agent that Id stay for two years and $40MM . This is notably le s than the than Severino received from the Athletics, but the righty was open to the le ser payday. I knew it was going to be le s money, but I just liked the environment there , Severino said. The trainers were unbelievable, everything there, it was good. So I was trying to sacrifice more money by staying in a place that I knowI can get better. But by the end, like I said, I was not in their plans . From the Mets perspective, the club had some level of interest, though apparently only at an even le ser price. Severino said he heard from his agent that the Mets only offer they were going to give me was the same deal that they gave . So I think for me that was not fair . New York signed Montas to a two-year, $34MM deal that allows Montas the ability to opt out of the contract following the season. (Severinos deal with the As also has an opt-out clause following the 2026 season.) The $17MM average annual value of that contract is also well below the $22.333MM AAV Severino is getting from the Athletics, and also le s than the Mets one-year, $21.05MM qualifying offer that Severino turned down last fall. Even if Severino was willing to drop to a $20MM AAV with his proposed two-year, $40MM contract, a further haircut down to $17MM was a bridge too far for the 31-year-old, especially given the interest he was garnering from other teams. The Cubs and Blue Jays were publicly linked to Severinos market before he surprised many by joining the low-payroll As, whose uncharacteristic spending spree this winter was more than a little related to the teams desire to post related to its revenue-sharing recipient status. Apart from the unique circumstances of the Mets record-setting splurge to add , president of baseball operations David Stearns was otherwise relatively measured , as evidenced by the lengthy staring contest of a negotiation with before the slugger returned to the fold. It could be that Stearns simply didnt value Severino beyond a particular price point, or that the Mets prioritized Alonso and (who both also received qualifying offers) moreso than Severino. The QO perhaps factored into the Mets decision proce s in another fashion, as the Mets ended up down one draft pick overall for the winter despite having three players rejecting QOs. The compensatory pick the Mets received for Severino ended up being one of the two picks the Mets had to surrender as compensation for signing Soto. Of course, the club didnt get any compensation for re-signing their own free agents Alonso re-upped for two years and $54MM (with an opt-out after this season), and Manaea for that contains $23.75MM in deferred money, dropping the current value in terms of luxury tax numbers to roughly $22MM per season. Severino signed a one-year, $13MM deal with New York in the 2023-24 offseason, which he viewed as a bounce-back contract after several injury-plagued years with the Yankees. The plan worked out well, as Severino had a solid 3.91 ERA over 182 innings with the Mets that paid off in the form of his three-year commitment from the Athletics. It proved to be a win from the Mets perspective as well, as Severino provided steady rotation work for a team that made the NLCS, and New York even get an extra draft pick back for its investment. Time will tell if the As made a wise move in locking up Severino, or if the Mets made a good call in letting him walk. In the short term, however, some second-gue sing is inevitable since both Manaea and Montas are hurt. Manaea will be out until late May at the earliest after suffering an oblique strain and in his rehab, while Montas also figures to be out until roughly mid-May after a lat strain cost him all of Spring Training. Severino has a modest 4.74 ERA over his three starts in an Athletics uniform, but he is at least healthy and on the mound, whereas the Mets have already had their rotation depth stretched in the early going. Bruce Bochy Jersey