A's Luis Severino on Speaking Up, Conversation with David Forst

The highest-paid player in A's franchise history, Luis Severino, has been written about plenty this season due to his poor performance at home and his comments about the field itself. Some fans have said that he took the money and knew what he was getting into when he signed with the club-- which he still believes is a playoff caliber team--if they can figure out their issues at home.

While some point to the money as a reason to keep quiet, we asked him before Thursday's game if that was actually a reason that he spoke up. A large portion of the A's roster is filled with pre-arbitration players--guys that are still working to earn that big payday.

Since Severino gets used for a quick quote that will generate headlines, we wanted to provide the full response to our question: People have talked a lot about your comments about Sutter Health Park, and as you said, you're just being honest. Do you feel that since you do have the big contract and there are a lot of guys that don't have that security in this clubhouse, that you want to speak up a little more, or is it just you being honest when asked a question?

Severino on Sacramento, Conversation with David Forst

"I'm not the only one who has said something about it. I feel like if somebody else said it, nothing happens, so if I said it, it's like, Sevvy said this. Like I said before, if you ask me something, I'm going to tell you the truth. I'm not going to lie. You know how we play on the road and how we play here. It has to be something.

"At the end, we try our best to go out there and win, but there is something missing. I talk to the guys, and I tell them I think this is a good team. I feel like we have what's necessary to be a playoff team. It's just tough when you play on a field where you don't know if--I feel like our field here, we don't know our field [more] than the other team. It's the same.

"It should be different. It should be like, [if] the ball hits here on a double, it's gonna go here. We don't have that kind of sense right now. I think that's the issue, because nobody is used to this field. It's the first time that we've all been together on the same field. Hopefully we turn it around and we get better."

We also asked Severino about his conversations with A's GM David Forst, which Forst disclosed on A's Cast on Wednesday, and how those conversations went from his perspective.

"It was just clarifying some comments. The thing a writer said about me, about the team--I think he said the team was mad at me because the comments that I said. He talked to me and said, no, that's not true. I would never do something like that. If something happened, I would go to you and talk to you about it. He was really open about talking and stuff and I really appreciate it."

As we mentioned in our post about the comments that the A's "can't wait to trade" Severino, the big takeaway wasn't attributed to anybody, and didn't have quotations around it, so it may have been speculation on the author's part, given how outspoken Severino has been.