Yankees exercise RHP Luis Severino's $15M option for 2023

As team president Brian Cashman promised, the New York Yankees exercised their 2023 option on right-hander Luis Severino, who will be paid $15 million next season. Severino, 28, signed a four-year contract in 2018 worth $40 million plus the team option for 2023. He becomes a free agent after the World Series next November. In his first full season since Tommy John surgery in 2020, Severino missed time due to a lat injury that forced him to the 60-day injured list. He made 19 regular-season starts with a 3.18 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 102 innings, with 112 strikeouts in 2022. Cashman said last week it was an "easy decision" to pick up Severino's option. Twice a top-10 finalist for the American League Cy Young Award before his injury, Severino turns 29 in February and has pitched a total of 120 innings since his surgery. The Yankees have Severino, right-hander Gerrit Cole, All-Star left-hander Nestor Cortes and Frankie Montas under contract for 2023. Montas, 29, is returning from a shoulder injury that limited his availability following New York's move to bring him on board from the Oakland Athletics at the trade deadline. --Field Level Media