This story was excerpted from Mart¨ªn Gallegos¡¯ A¡¯s Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SACRAMENTO -- Even during their most competitive seasons in recent years, the Athletics have developed a reputation as a club that waits out the Hot Stove in search of players lingering on the free-agent market long enough to become attainable in their price range.

Beginning a new era this upcoming season as the A¡¯s move into their temporary new home of Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, the club is working to change that narrative. Instead of waiting around for a bargain, they struck early in the offseason by officially announcing the signing of right-hander Luis Severino to a two-year, $67 million deal with a player option for 2027 on Friday.

¡°We certainly came into this offseason feeling like we wanted to make a big statement coming to a new city and ballpark,¡± said A¡¯s general manager David Forst. ¡°We¡¯re excited to have a pitcher of Luis¡¯ caliber here joining us for our first year in Sutter Health Park. We¡¯ve spent the offseason working on building the roster and this is our first big acquisition.¡±

The addition of Severino, a nine-year Major League veteran who made 31 starts and posted a 3.91 ERA with 161 strikeouts in 182 innings for the Mets in 2024, is an exciting one for the entire organization. It signals a shift in direction for an A¡¯s squad that showed promising signs last season that it might soon finally be emerging from a difficult rebuilding process back into contention by supplementing its young core with one of the better right-handers available this winter.

A¡¯s manager Mark Kotsay was unable to make the trip to Sacramento for Severino¡¯s introductory press conference on Friday. Instead, he joined A¡¯s Cast from his home in San Diego to discuss Severino and more.

Here are some of the highlights:

Kotsay on the signing of Severino

¡°It¡¯s an exciting day. I couldn¡¯t be more thrilled to not only have a frontline guy, but a great, great guy. Talking to him on Zoom, this is a Dominican player who has embraced our culture. He¡¯s learned the language. He makes his home in Tampa with his beautiful wife and family that travels with him and supports him. This is a first-class individual and a first-class baseball player.¡±

On Severino¡¯s reputation around the league

¡°He¡¯s got a foundation [that] he and his wife have that helps raise money for families in need back in the [Dominican Republic], which is awesome. When you¡¯re going to target a free agent, yes, talent is probably at the top of the list. But the person, the character and qualities he¡¯s going to bring into the clubhouse, the work ethic -- I¡¯ve received several text messages from coaches and managers that managed Sevy and they all said, ¡®You¡¯ve got a great guy.¡¯ I couldn¡¯t be happier about that as well as just getting a starting pitcher who made 31 starts last year to go along with JP [Sears], who made 32 starts. You look at [Mitch] Spence, the growth of [Joey] Estes and [J.T.] Ginn, I think we really are starting to lengthen out that rotation with some depth and I¡¯m hopeful that we can add to it as well.¡±

On the direction of the A¡¯s after improving their 2023 win total by 19 games last season

¡°We¡¯re continuing forward with the mindset that we¡¯re going to compete and we¡¯re going to win. That message is getting stronger with the acquisition of a player like Sevy, and we¡¯re hopeful that we can continue adding to this group. The nucleus is here. We got to see that for a few months [in 2024]. My job is getting them to believe in themselves and understand that it takes six months. That¡¯s going to be a journey. Right out the gate, we start the season in Seattle with four games against [a] pitching staff that we¡¯re going to have to go up and score runs to beat. The mindset is already there for next season, even though it¡¯s only December.¡±

On building a young core of players ahead of the A¡¯s planned relocation to Las Vegas in 2028

¡°These three years are going to be great in Sacramento and it¡¯s going to lead us into Las Vegas. You look at the roster you can carry forward for these next three seasons and, hopefully, more into Vegas. It¡¯s the core group of guys that we put together with guys like [Shea] Langeliers, [JJ] Bleday, [Lawrence] Butler, [Zack] Gelof. There¡¯s a chance for [Tyler] Soderstrom this season to stay healthy and have a huge year. The excitement around Jacob Wilson, and, obviously, a middle-of-the-order bat in Brent Rooker who we¡¯re hopeful to get something done with to continue showing a different direction for this organization in terms of making commitments to players.¡±