Luis Severino has remained healthy, but do the Mets trust enough in what they saw last season to extend the relationship for potentially the next four or five years?

The right-hander rejected the club’s $21.05 million qualifying offer for next season on Tuesday, clarifying that any return to Queens for Severino would be on a multi-year contract.

Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea also rejected qualifying offers from the Mets, who will receive draft compensation for each, if any, player who signs elsewhere.

Alonso and Manaea were almost guaranteed from the start to reject the qualifying offer, but there was perhaps less certainty with Severino, 30, given the possibility that he could have accepted a 2025 salary above the value merchant and sought to profit from it. in a multi-year deal next offseason.

Despite this, it is likely that Severino – who is considered within the industry to be the No. 2 or 3 starter for a playoff-caliber team – will receive at least four years with his next contract and the risk in accepting the offer qualification would have been a risk. injury-plagued season, diminishing his free agent value next winter.

The high end of this starting pitcher market includes Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Max Fried. The next tier includes Manaea and Severino, who combined to give the Mets a formidable 1-2 punch last season.

Severino, who arrived on a one-year contract worth $13 million, pitched to a 3.91 ERA in 31 starts for the Mets during which he recorded 161 strikeouts in 182 innings. It was the first time since 2018 with the Yankees that Severino was healthy enough to start at least 30 games.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the Mets, the coaches, the strength and conditioning coach and everyone that helps us here,” Severino said last month. “I feel like even though I was healthy this year, I can still improve.”

Severino averaged 95.9 mph with his fastball speed, which ranks in the 79th percentile in MLB, according to Statcast. His numbers were also solid in terms of average exit velocity, barrel percentage, and ground ball percentage, among others.

The Mets’ returning starting pitchers for next season include Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Tylor Megill. Another possibility, Paul Blackburn, is rehabbing after undergoing a procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak — he could miss the start of spring training — and the Mets must decide whether to offer him a contract.

Team officials can look in various directions to fill vacancies, with familiar faces like Severino, Manaea and Jose Quintana among the available arms.

“You can build a pitching staff in different ways,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said recently during general managers meetings. “You can do this by adding starting pitches and going long from the start of matches. We may structure our bullpen a little differently next year, where you will have more multi-inning options that can eat up innings. But we definitely need to find some innings and some of that is going to be added to the starting rotation.

Severino pitched at least six innings in 20 of his 31 starts, improving in the second half of the season on that front.

“I want to compete,” Severino said. “I want to be part of a team that wants to win the World Series and gives everything they have every time they step on the field. I have to keep this in mind.