The Luis Severino Experiment worked out well. The Mets got to the NLCS and Severino got $67 million.

For those wondering why the Mets gave Frankie Montas — best known in these parts as one of the Yankees’ worst-ever trade deadline acquisitions — an eye-popping two-year deal worth $34 million earlier this week, the answer came through crystal-clear Thursday afternoon.

It was delivered by Luis Severino, who agreed with the no-market A’s on a three-year, $67 million contract, a truly mind-boggling development in nearly every way imaginable.

Severino now owns the second-largest free-agent payday of this offseason, behind only Blake Snell’s five-year, $182 million deal from the Dodgers.

Severino’s distinction won’t last, obviously. Not with so many big names still on the board. But the fact that he got there, even during the first week of December, is noteworthy nonetheless. And for that money to come from the A’s, a team that’s been trying harder to get to Las Vegas than the playoffs, is stunning in itself.

More on that in a minute. But first let’s put a bow on Severino’s time with the Mets, who bought a $13 million lottery ticket on the oft-injured Yankee and hit the jackpot in Flushing.

From the jump, taking a one-year flier on Severino — a high-ceiling pitcher with a New York pedigree whose primary issue was staying healthy (along with the occasional tipping problem) — was a no-brainer for new president of baseball ops David Stearns

Severino was precisely the sort of project that a general manager loves because it makes them look smart when everything comes together. And to the Mets’ credit — from Stearns down through manager Carlos Mendoza to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner to the conditioning staff — they turned Severino back into someone capable of making 31 starts again (for the first time since 2018).

It was the rotation equivalent of flipping a fixer-upper. Stearns got his 182 innings, 11 wins and a 3.91 ERA while Severino pockets more money than he probably ever thought possible as his Bronx career disintegrated toward the end of the 2023 season. No hard feelings.

Personally, I figured Severino was a safe bet on a two-year deal with an option tacked on, but three guaranteed was pushing it. Clearly, so did the Mets, who pivoted to Montas very quickly in the process, with an understanding where this already overheated pitching market could go.

Late Wednesday night, Severino posted a photo on X of him sitting at a dining table on a beach somewhere, wearing a huge smile. The next morning, he became the highest-paid player in the history of the A’s with an annual salary of $22.3 million — nearly $18 million more than Brent Rooker, the 30-year-old DH who hit 39 homers last season and finished 10th in the American League MVP voting.

“Thank you New York Mets fans for all the support all year long,” Severino wrote on X. “Thank you Mets staff and front office for everything. I will forever be grateful for an incredible season.”

He left out the part about leaving for the big check. But when you turn 31 in February and have the medical history of an accident-prone skydiver, you follow the money, even when it leads you to the arid plains of West Sacramento.

The Mets harbored no illusions about holding on to Severino despite the mutually beneficial relationship, and by extending a qualifying offer, they snagged a compensatory draft pick for his departure.

At this point, it’s worth asking why the big-market Mets, backed by Steve Cohen’s many billions, bother to play this shell game with the rotation. There’s a few reasons for that.

First off, it worked pretty well last season, as the Mets’ two modest rotation signings — Severino and Sean Manaea — pitched beyond their rosiest projections, giving Stearns confidence in his staff that they can pull it off again this year (see: Montas, Frankie).

Plus the biggest complaint every year among owners and executives alike is the soaring cost of starting pitching, which also happens to be the sport’s most fragile commodity. In order to combat that, and direct resources to more efficiently rewarding areas, it makes sense to sniff out the next Severino or Manaea along with maybe picking a bona fide No. 1 to give a longer-term deal (or trade for).

Before Stearns’ arrival, Cohen threw record piles of cash at a pair of aging Cooperstown-bound starters in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. His reward? Eating a ton of money just to squeeze prospects from their departure. That was only two years ago, recent enough for Cohen to be cautious about making such risky gambles in the future.

Not that we expect the Mets to be cheap in regard to their pitching staff. They’re just going to be selective, especially while they’re immersed in a $600 million bidding war for Juan Soto with other significant holes to fill (as well as determining the Flushing fate of Pete Alonso). Based on Manaea’s Chris Sale-inspired brilliance last season and his apparent happiness with the Mets, maybe Stearns can finagle his way back.

Then again, after what Severino raked in, Manaea now should be shooting for a four-year deal approaching $100 million. And with Scott Boras representing him, it’s reasonable to assume that’s the goal now. Never mind what the top aces like Corbin Burnes (another Boras client) and Max Fried are thinking.

Severino wisely chose not to wait around to see who had money left over when the dust settled in January. Instead, he jumped the market with a surprise suitor, an indication of how hard it’s going to be to find steals this winter. The prices are only going up from here.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.