“No one wants to play for the Mets” – Fans react as Luis Severino becomes 3rd NY Mets star to DECLINE qualifying offer

Pitcher Luis Severino rejected the $21.05 million qualifying offer from the New York Mets and will now become a free agent.

“No one wants to play for the Mets” – Fans react as Luis Severino becomes 3rd NY Mets star to DECLINE qualifying offer

Luis Severino (Image via Sports Illustrated)

Tuesday saw the New York Mets receive three rejections. After Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea refused the one-year $21.05 million qualifying offer from the team, Luis Severino joined them and became the third player to do so.

While Alonso and Manaea were expected to decline this offer, there were some who thought that Severino might accept it. Their refusal of this does assure draft pick compensation for the Mets if they sign somewhere else in the free agency.

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Severino joined the Mets last offseason on a one-year $13 million deal. At that time, fans would label this deal as “overpay” due to his performances in the 2023 season.

The former New York Yankees star finished the year with a 4-8 record and a high 6.65 ERA. The move to cross-town rivals Mets did bring an improvement in his performances.

This year, the Dominican international went 11-7 with a 3.91 ERA in his 31 starts. During them, he racked up 161 strikeouts. Last month, the 30-year-old pitcher gave credit to the Mets training staff for his improvement.

I have to give a lot of credit to the Mets, the trainers, strength coach and everybody here helping. I feel that even though I was healthy this year, I can still improve.

Luis Severino said as per the New York Post

In recent years, Severino has been dealing with health issues. In the 2019 and 2021 seasons, he played in a combined total of just 7 games. During the 2023 season, he was once again injured and featured in 19 games only.

This year marked the first time since 2018 where he made over 30 starts. These positive signs regarding his health could make him one of the top free agents in this offseason.

Social media reacts to Luis Severino declining qualifying offer from New York Mets

The news of Luis Severino declining a qualifying offer from the New York Mets has brought up mixed reactions from users on social media. While some of the members of the MLB fanbase were okay with this decision, some made fun of the Mets.

Luis Severino
Luis Severino (Inage via NJ)

On X, they would brutally troll the Mets for facing this rejection. One fan wrote, “Lol no one wants to play for the Mets” while reacting to this development. Another one claimed that out of Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea, and Luis Severino, he is the one they could let “walk” away from the team.

Check out them and some more top reactions regarding this below:

This year, a total of 13 players including Juan Soto received the qualifying offer from their teams. However, only Nick Martinez of the Cincinnati Reds accepted this and stayed with his team.

All of these players will now become official free agents. They can use this free agency market to negotiate a better deal for themselves from teams including their former clubs, who will be keen to bring them back for the 2025 season.