Perhaps the most surprising move of the offseason just went down on Thursday. Luis Severino departing the New York Mets after rejecting the team’s qualifying offer isn’t a huge shock, but the right-hander inking a three-year, $67 million deal to join the lowly Athletics certainly is.

The A’s add a solid right-hander into their rotation, while the Mets lose one of the most important contributors from the team’s run to the NLCS. New York took a gamble on Severino, bringing him aboard on a one-year deal last offseason, and were rewarded with the righty’s best season since 2018 with a 3.91 ERA in 182 innings of work.

While the Mets might’ve made a smart decision passing on a long-term deal to an oft-injured starting pitcher, losing Severino is a big blow. What makes it worse is he almost certainly isn’t going to be the only member of the 2024 Mets to begin the 2025 season in a different uniform.

3) Adam Ottavino pitched himself out of Queens this past season

In both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Ottavino was a key member of the Mets bullpen. With that in mind, and his price falling drastically, New York brought the right-hander back to Queens for a third season. That didn’t end up working out particularly well.

Ottavino posted a 4.34 ERA in 60 appearances during the 2024 regular season. Sure, his 3.67 FIP suggested that he pitched better than the ERA would indicate, but Ottavino’s struggles in high-leverage roles, particularly in the month of May, forced Carlos Mendoza to use him as nothing more than a low-leverage arm for much of the year.

The right-hander worked his way so far out of Mendoza’s circle of trust that he didn’t pitch once in either of the first two rounds of the postseason despite being on the roster, and did not make the cut when the team advanced to the NLCS. While the Mets do need some bullpen help, they can do better than a 39-year-old that they didn’t trust to use much in important moments.

2) The Mets can do better than J.D. Martinez at DH

Martinez joined the Mets just days before Opening Day on a one-year deal, coming off a 33-home run campaign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It felt as if he was the perfect hitter to protect Pete Alonso in the lineup, and certainly an upgrade on the team’s DH situation in 2023.

Martinez got off to a fairly strong start to the season, but as the year progressed, his struggles became apparent. The 37-year-old slashed .202/.284/.346 with six home runs in the second half of the year, and started just five of New York’s 13 postseason games. He was primarily used in the short side of a DH platoon once October began.

Martinez’s track record is one few free agents can match, but a DH who doesn’t play the field, doesn’t run well and had a .725 OPS during the regular season is quite replaceable. The fact that he’s 37 years old should only seal the deal. The Mets can and presumably will do better.

1) The Jose Siri trade confirmed Harrison Bader’s Mets departure

For a large chunk of this past season, Bader was exceeding all expectations. He was playing his usual elite defense in center field, but hw was also hitting, putting up a .273 average with eight home runs and a .733 OPS over the first half of the year. That kind of bat alongside his outstanding glove gave the Mets a very valuable player.

Unfortunately, Bader struggled mightily in the second half, slashing .167/.230/.283 with four home runs in 59 games (39 starts). His struggles offensively, combined with Tyrone Taylor’s hot hitting, led to Taylor receiving most of the playing time in center field down the stretch of the regular season and in October. Bader saw plenty of time as a defensive replacement and pinch runner, but he started just two postseason games for New York.

Given his struggles as the season progressed, it was probably unlikely that the Mets would bring him back. But once the team acquired Jose Siri, a very similar player to Bader, it became a near certainty that Bader would not be back. Siri is cheaper, younger and an argument can be made that he’s a better overall player with more upside.

Bader will do well as arguably the best center fielder available in free agency, but with both Taylor and Siri under club control, there’s no room for a reunion with New York.