Former Yankee Luis Severino predictably causing drama as trade rumors intensify

Luis Severino is set to pitch at Yankee Stadium on Sunday for the first time since he departed the Bronx after the 2023 season. It was an unceremonious divorce between the two parties, as Sevy finished among the worst qualified starters in MLB that year.

He signed with the Mets and had a resurgent season, all the while dodging the Yankees in both Subway Series. Then, after the 2024 campaign, he signed the largest free agency contract in Athletics history — a three-year, $67 million deal.

And he knew everything that would come with it. The A's were relocating to Las Vegas, but their new ballpark wouldn't be ready for a couple of years. The organization sold its stake in the Oakland Coliseum on the way out as tensions with the city worsened. As a result, they would be forced to play at least the next two years in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento.

That didn't stop Severino from signing with one of the worst teams in the league that also happened to not have a home. He chased the money after capitalizing on his contract year, and he got what he got.

Ever since then, he's been vocal about the playing conditions, and it's apparently reached an uncomfortable juncture. Severino spoke to the New York media on Friday and lamented about the situation in Sacramento, and now the A's reportedly "can't wait to trade him" at this year's deadline.

Yankees Rumors: Could Luis Severino be a trade deadline target for New York?

Severino, typically a reserved individual, seems to say all the wrong things when he does open his mouth. Either that, or whatever he says is poorly timed or misconstrued given the topic. Remember he called out the Yankees for placing him on the 60-day IL because his injury was going to force him to miss 45 days anyway, but he refused to acknowledge how the transaction would help the roster? How about when he called out the Yankees twice last year, claiming they only have two good hitters, or how it was easier to play in Queens because the expectation weren't as high as they are in the Bronx? There were other spats with the front office during his time in New York, in addition to him forgetting the start of a 2018 ALDS game in which he was starting.

Some fans look back on Severino's 2017 and 2018 fondly, and that characterizes their viewpoint of the pitcher. But 2019-2023 was an abject disaster both on and off the field, and it's hard not to take that in account when considering him as a potential trade candidate. The Yankees do need starting pitching help, but would they roll the dice on a relationship that already blew up in their face for five straight years?

If he's somehow become too toxic for a non-existent market like Sacramento, how would Part II unfold in the Bronx? This is a troubling pattern of behavior for the veteran that the Yankees should undoubtedly avoid ... even if his home-road splits are enticing.