A's spit in face of Oakland fans by finally spending money after they leave

The Oakland — er, Sacramento? — Athletics made a stunning addition on Thursday, signing former New York Mets ace Luis Severino to a three-year, $67 million contract, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. That is a franchise record in guaranteed money for the A's, who plan to bump payroll into the $100 million range.

Severino, who some thought might accept the qualifying offer in New York, ends up as the new top-billed starter for an A's team that may or may not move to Las Vegas by the time his tenure with the franchise ends. For now, Severino will pitch in a Sacramento minor-league ballpark for an A's team hoping to salvage its reputation after an unceremonious and oft-criticized departure from Oakland.

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Oakland Athletics sign Luis Severino to franchise-record contract in strange investment

Severino finished last season with a 3.91 ERA and 1.24 WHIP across 31 starts for the Mets, accumulating 161 strikeouts in 182.0 innings.

We have never "had to hand it to" John Fisher, but man, the idea of Oakland actually spending money and fielding a competitive team should be an exciting breakthrough. Instead, it reads as a blatant slap in the face — the perpetuation of a blatantly false narrative that the A's can afford more competitive pieces now that they're freed from the shackles of the Oakland marketplace, as if we didn't see the most successful sports dynasty of the last decade take place in that very same city.

It's unclear how many jaded A's fans will follow their team to Sacramento, much less Las Vegas, but Fisher has somehow made throwing money at a good player feel icky. It doesn't help that Severino's skill set and injury history don't align with the young Athletics' timeline. He's an excellent soft-contact pitcher in the middle of his prime at 30 years old, but Severino allowed a lot of base-runners last season and was frequently working his way out of jams. Oakland's inexperienced defense and paltry offense won't support Severino the way New York did.

This does make Oakland a better team, but "how much better" is a fair question to ask. Severino isn't close to the best starting pitcher available, and to see Oakland cough up a draft pick in order to guarantee this highly debatable contract is just perplexing. If the A's want to spend, why not do it properly and sign a full-blown star? Or, why not trade for the better and more affordable Garrett Crochet? There were better avenues to improving the A's rotation, but it is what it is. Again, we shouldn't really except much from a John Fisher-led organization.

Severino might sell a few extra tickets in Sutter Health Park, though. So there's that.