Ortiz hooked up Severino with Pedro in 2016 Alex Bregman Jersey , during Big Papi's final season.who started in the New York rotation, was banished to the bullpen and finished 3-8 with a 5.83 ERA in 22 games (11 starts).Severino was among Pedro's legion of distant admirers. And the admiration was mutual: Martinez, who appreciates good pitching as much as a foodie enjoys an excellent restaurant recommendation, watched Severino on television and in person. Like many others, he couldn't square Severino's 100 mph heat and filthy slider with the poor results."Big Papi 鈥?told me, 'I can see what he's doing. I can see the ball. He's exposing the ball,'" Martinez said. "Big Papi said, 'I want you to help this kid. I've gotten to know him, and he's a good kid.'"One thing led to another. Martinez reached out, and he and Severino agreed to meet in the Dominican during the winter of 2016-17."I told him to be at the stadium at 1 p.m.," Martinez recalled. "And he was there at 11 a.m. because he didn't want to miss the appointment."Having watched Severino closely on video, Martinez decided he could fix some of the things Severino did incorrectly. Pedro told Severino to move his hands closer to his body to conceal the ball longer in his delivery. He was pushing them out too far. Then they went to work on his changeup and other facets of his game."He taught me to hit the [catcher's] glove more, have better command of my fastball and secondary pitches," Severino said.Martinez found his student to be a willing learner. "He was brave enough to take my advice, do what I wanted and maybe without authorization of the Yankees," Martinez said. "Sometimes, you just have to take chances.Luis Severino LuisSeverino94Un placer haber compartido con 45PedroMartinez KEvXD67qwI"I was so concerned with him feeling comfortable, not getting hurt, but we needed to do some work. I said, 'With all due respect to the Yankees, I need to switch you to some things I think can help.'"The two developed a rapport that now reaches into genuine friendship. Who would have guessed that: a Yankee and a Red Sox, after the overheated American League Championship Series battles in 2003 and 2004?"He's a great man," Severino said. "Agreatman. I feel like I can talk with him for hours. Not even about baseball. About everything. If I have an issue, I will go to him and he will always have a great answer."In some ways, baseball was merely the icebreaker for the bond that has grown between the two."We keep in touch. His wife and my wife actually have become friends as well. During the offseason, he lives in an area I love http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , really close to where my mom grew up [in the Dominican]. Everything points toward having a great friendship between the two of us. I love fishing. He loves fishing. That's what we do. We pretty much have the same habits, look out for each other. It is a perfect friendship."Martinez isn't the only player for whom Severino has shown such respect, as Ortiz experienced when he met him.Ortiz had learned of Severino from a friend in the Dominican Republic who lives in the area in which the big right-hander grew up."He told me one day, 'Hey, this kid that's in the minor leagues with the Yankees, he's a Christian kid, he's a homeboy, he comes from a really decent family. He's going to get called up at some point,'" Ortiz recalled.Signed in December 2011 as an international free agent, Severino finally reached the bigs in August 2015. His debut, a start, came against鈥ou guessed it, Boston. He pitched well, holding the Red Sox to one earned run and two hits in five innings before suffering the loss. The one earned run? An Ortiz home run in the fourth.Luis Severinos first meeting with David Ortiz was a memorable one, as the Red Sox slugger hit a home run in a Boston victory.Kathy Willens/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated PressThat was it for Severino against Boston until '16, and after one of those appearances, the next day the kid approached Ortiz."He said, 'Hi,' really respectful," Ortiz said. "I really appreciated that. Because in baseball, it's like in the military: That respect is always there. That's how it goes."I've had some people criticizing Pedro for doing what he did. If I'm Pedro, I would do that 100 more times. Because that's how you get the game better."In 2017, his first summer after working with Martinez, Severino posted a breakout season for the Yankees, going 14-6 with a 2.98 ERA over 31 starts. He posted 230 strikeouts against only 51 walks.Severino, 24, earned his second consecutive All-Star nod this year and Brian McCann Jersey , after a nifty catch of New York teammate Aaron Judge's home run while warming up in the Nationals Park bullpen in the top of the second, he zipped through a scoreless bottom of the second. Severino surrendered a leadoff double to Matt Kemp then whiffed Bryce Harper, induced a fly ball from Nick Markakis and whiffed Brandon Crawford. It was his second All-Star Game, and against the powerful National League lineup, he had a plan."I feel like everyone's got more than 20 home runs," he said. "So don't throw the fastball. Throw something else."Last year, Severino became just the second American League pitcher since Roger Clemens in 1977 to post an ERA of below 3.00 with 225 or more strikeouts in his age-23 season. Clemens did it in 1986, when he was with鈥oston."He's as good of a man as he is a pitcher," Martinez said. "The last person I referred to like that was Mariano Rivera. 鈥?That's a statement. I know Mariano as a person. Severino is equally as humble and lovable. He's very accountable, very responsible, very hard-working. There are not enough [good] words to say about him."Even the Red Sox, who, ahem, employ Martinez as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, understand."They're Dominican, you know?" Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of Severino and Martinez. "He looked up to Pedro when he was younger. He has some of the same stuff Pedro had at that age.Severino led the American League in wins at the All-Star break while ranking in the top 10 in strikeouts and ERA.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images"Why wouldn't you want to learn from the best? You can't fault him for wanting to go to Pedro for advice."From what he had heard of Martinez, Severino said it seemed natural to work with him."I wasn't surprised," Severino said. "He was helping somebody else. He wasn't looking at me as a rivalry. I'm happy that he did."Always a pitcher/philosopher in his soul, anyway, Pedro says he's gotten no pushback."Everybody in the Red Sox organization is very respectful of what I'm doing," he said. "They know me really well, and they know that my heart is big enough to be shared with different players. The thing that makes it unique is, it's when I'm not working. It's my time off."Severino isn't Martinez's only project. Over the past few years, he's also worked with Ervin Santana, Jeurys Familia, Hansel Robles, Edinson Volquez http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , Rubby De La Rosa and Jose Veras, among others.All of this because he shares a philosophy with Ortiz: Pay it forward."I feel as a former player, as a Hall of Famer, my duty is to make the game better, to pass it along to the next generation," Martinez said. "I'm not going to keep the knowledge within me. Not only is it my duty, but it's a duty for everyone who plays the game."The fact that it's showing up in Severino more than anybody else鈥攜ou can give him all the credit in the world. I only give him suggestions. He's the one who's done it."Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scotton Twitterand talk baseball. What does this deal mean for Trout, the Angels and the rest of baseball?"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Angels PregameAngels PostgameGamethreadsHalos Heaven PodcastsShohei OhtaniMinor LeaguesInterviewsThe Implications of Mike Trout’s Record-Breaking DealNew,108commentsWhat does this deal mean for Trout, the Angels and the rest of baseball?PDTShareTweetShareShareThe Implications of Mike Trout’s Record-Breaking DealKim Klement-USA TODAY SportsMike Trout, the unanimous best player in baseball, signed a mega contract that will keep him with the Los Angeles Angels for life.Halo Heaven’s very own Jessica DeLine broke down the initial story and the rest of the writers gave their initial thoughts on the Trout deal. Trout, if you haven’t heard, signed a 12-year-deal worth nearly $430 million, the largest contract in North American sports history. *UPDATE: The 12 year deal includes the final two years of his current deal (two years, $66.5 million).*The very obvious implications of this deal are not only huge for Trout but also for the Angels and the rest of baseball. This deal ensures that Trout won’t have to test free agency ever again and has guaranteed financial security for many generations of Trout’s family. After signing a six year, $144.5 million dollar deal prior to the 2014 season, Trout’s second major deal guarantees him over $500 million of earnings in his career.For the Angels, rather than urgently trying to win before he was slated to leave in free agency after 2020, the club can now have a long-term view on building a winner. In his Angels tenure, General Manager Billy Eppler has slowly built the organization up, from the bottom levels all the way to the MLB level. While the results haven’t shown up on the field, players such as Shohei Ohtani, Andrelton Simmons, Jo Adell and Griffin Canning give Trout a legitimate supporting cast for the near future. For the rest of baseball, Trout’s deal eliminates several teams who were likely going to be big players for Trout, namely the Philadelphia Phillies. Bryce Harper Tyler Clippard Jersey , the newest member of the Phillies, was already alluring to Trout coming to Philadelphia and even got accused of tampering. This is all for naught now as Trout is locked in as an Angel for life.While $400+ million for any single player carries inherent risk, it’s possible that this deal is well under market value for Trout. If you buy into Wins Above Replacement, Trout’s value is on a whole different level than the rest of baseball. Since 2012, Trout’s 64.2 WAR is nearly 20 wins higher than the next best player (Buster Posey at 45.4). Trout is not just the best player in baseball; he’s in a class of his own.After a slight drop off in production in 2014, the year he ironically won his first American League Most Valuable Player Award, Trout has found a way to improve in some fashion every year since. After establishing an already elite baseline, Trout decided to improve in a major category in each year since. -In 2015, Trout started hitting for more power, slugging a career high .590 with 41 home runs while also shaving his strikeout rate. -In 2016, after only stealing 27 combined bases the two years prior, Trout swiped 30 bags, shaved his strikeout rate again and posted a career best (to date) .441 on base percentage. -Trout had a significant injury for the first time in 2017 but when he was on the field for 114 games, he ran a 181 wRC+ while walking more than he struck out.-2018 brought everything together with Trout slugging 39 home runs, stealing 24 bases, nearly walking as many times as he struck out and improving his defense in center field. Had he not missed 22 games due to injury and the tragic passing of his brother-in-law, Trout might’ve won his third American League MVP award. Trout has reached the point where he essentially has no flaws in his game, is consistently an elite player and is still just 27 years old. If Trout ages like the all-time greats, there’s a chance this deal has loads of surplus value in it. To illustrate: To reiterate, $430 million is plenty of money and Trout will certainly be financially stable but this deal is not only fair but it may be a bargain. Trout will earn somewhere around $35.8 million each season, which is the highest AAV (Average Annual Value) in the sport, but it’s a justified figure. This is a win-win for the Angels and Mike Trout. The club locks up a generational talent, confirming he’ll enter the Hall of Fame as a member of the Angels someday, while Trout doesn’t have to negotiate a deal for the rest of his career. The next step for the Angels is to find a way to get Trout and the rest of the team into the playoffs.