A case for the Mets to give Luis Severino a qualifying offer

Like a pimple on the tip of your nose before picture day, there are two New York Mets players who stand out as qualifying offer candidates. Pete Alonso is going to get one. So will Sean Manaea. Each will inevitably turn it down in favor of a longer, more lucrative deal. The same cannot be guaranteed for Luis Severino.

This year’s qualifying offer is set at $21.05 million. It’s a big bump in salary for Severino who signed for $13 million last winter. The difference between last offseason and this is Severino is coming off of a very good and healthy season. This wasn’t the situation when he left the New York Yankees following the 2023 season.

There are a lot of reasons why the Mets wouldn’t issue the qualifying offer to Severino. It’s a clear overpay. There are better options out there. What about the reasons why they should consider it?

The Mets need multiple starting pitchers and this crosses one off the list

Sending a QO to Severino would be a good way to get him to stay. He’s young enough to build off of this past season’s success. The Mets are going to need the arms. Next year’s rotation already has far too many TBDs. The Mets can almost consider it like picking up an option on him for 2025 albeit one that increases significantly.

Jose Butto can help offset how expensive the deal is

Worried about the contract? Moving Jose Butto to the rotation can help offset how much the Mets are paying their rotation. For sure in the mix to sign at least one of the pricier available free agent starters if not more, a player like Butto can be a cheap yet effective starting pitcher to have around to balance the average salary in the rotation. Butto is eligible to make the league minimum through the 2026 season. We should expect several more younger Mets pitchers to join the rotation making MLB pennies as well. How you doin' Brandon Sproat?

One less bidding war the Mets need to get into

The Mets are going to get into a couple of bidding wars this offseason. Not all of them will get ridiculously high. An exchange of fire will still take place. Despite having the richest owner in the sport, the Mets haven’t won every free agent battle for one reason or another. Kevin Gausman, Steven Matz, and Andrew McCutchen all took less or equal money to sign elsewhere. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was only ever going to be a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The situation is quite different with Severino who seemed to enjoy his stay with the Mets (and he clearly loves New York). Save yourself the hassle of a bidding war with the Cincinnati Reds and make him an offer to remain for another year.

The Mets gain even more draft pick capital if he rejects it

A reward for losing a player who turned down a qualifying offer is a draft pick. It is supposed to help balance the league a little better to compensate for those highly-talented free agents who leave teams unwilling to ever pay a star. Not an appropriate description of this situation, the Mets can still benefit. Ask most fans, they’d want Alonso and Manaea back. Severino is more of a tossup. Although the qualifying offer wasn’t around at the time, the Mets gained a draft pick when Mike Hampton left after the 2000 season. The player they picked the following summer: David Wright.