The enigmatic and charismatic Yasiel Puig has been involved in trade rumors for years now, but the Dodgers have yet to move him. However according to Dylan Hernandez the Dodgers may finally trade him this winter. According to reports Puig is quote “disgruntled and dissatisfied” with management for his dwindling playing time against left handed pitching. Puig is entering his final season of team control in 2019 before he jumps into free agency in 2020.
There was rumors earlier this winter that the Dodgers were talking to the Indians about a Puig trade that could have involved Corey Kluber. Of course that did not happen. But with the winter meetings approaching and Andrew Friedman without a general manager, could this mean that Puig finally gets dealt?
You all know how I feel about Puig. I like him and there is little doubt he’s a gifted and talented player. But his batting and on-base skills have seriously declined over the last few years. They’re not the same since the first two years he broke into the majors. For the record his power has increased and he had a productive 2018 season.
Puig slashed .267/.327/.494 with 23 home runs and 63 runs batted in across 444 plate appearances. Unfortunately after drawing 64 walks in 2017, Puig was issued only 36 walks in 2018. That saw his OBP drop 20 points from the year before. Yet he still posted a 120 OPS+ and an .820 OPS while swiping 15 bases. Puig played in 125 games in 2018. Puig is due to earn 11.3 million dollars in salary arbitration this spring.
Puig did also have a productive postseason campaign. He smashed a huge home run in game 7 of the NLCS against the Brewers and then hit a big three-run home run in game 4 of the World Series against Boston. For the record Puig batted just .209 with a .628 OPS against left handed pitching in 2018. He’s posted a .757 OPS against southpaws in his career. One thing is for certain, if Puig is dealt we’ll sure miss his entertaining and crazy antics.
Same old story…. Dodger FO has no faith in its’ players. They continue to doubt the player’s capabilities, relying on the ANAL-ytics to decide who plays, and who sits. The players never get a real opportunity to prove they should be every day players. Soon, the player ends up losing his confidence and presses to prove the naysayers wrong, causing him to make stupid mistakes at the plate. These players did not make it to the “Bigs”, by just being a “one dimensional” platoon player, who cannot hit righties or lefties.
I do not blame Piug for being a little teed off about his platooning and limited playing time. I’m sure Roberts, being a player, would understand Yasiel’s feeelings, but DR is forced into playing the lineup his “helicopter” Boss’ demand.
Puig will be another loss to the Dodgers, as it was with Beltre and Konerko. The Dodgers will regret it if they end up tradiing Puig. I think the fans would not be happy, as well.
Sometimes I tend to blame the players for lack of loyalty to the team, but what it really boils down to the ownerships lack of trust and loyalty to its’ players.
I wonder where the disgruntled thing came from. The Yasiel I watched day in and day out always had a smile on his face and frustration when he did not perform like he thought he should. He was constantly involved in the game and spent much of his time on the bench next to his hitting guru, Turner Ward. The interaction between the two was always entertaining to watch. I shall miss that.
I know there is talk about trading Puig, especially from the fan base. However, does it have any counterpart in the FO? After 2 years of making the WS, and 4-5 years of winning the division, the Dodgers seem very reluctant to part with any starter unless there is a ready replacement in the farm system, ala Bellinger. Salary dumps, bad pitcher signings, and players up for a huge increase in their contract, seem to be the only ways the Dodgers give up any player, especially their starters. This is a team whose FO is in love with their choices. Hey, with 2 WS appearances in a row, the logic is in their favor no matter how bitter or reactive the fan base may be.
For me, replacing Grandal is a much more important focus than Puig. Dodgers have shown nothing but loyalty to Puig and have given him a lot of time and work to re-make himself and learn to hit properly. Maybe someday he will learn to run the bases. This is a careful, plodding, focused, FO that we have installed. They do not make knee-jerk decisions regarding their incumbents. This is one of the difficulties of farm players trying to break into the lineup, ala Verdugo/Toles. Their loyalty to Kike, Joc, Puig, and Taylor have come first.
Let Puig play everyday, in fact there are a number of players that need to play everyday. However the new Dodger Way is to analyze the shit out of everything, frustrate your players (and your fans), and play a very boring style of baseball. Just how long will us idiot fans put up with this approach?
Totally agree, True Blue,
ANAL-ytics says a player cannot hit lefties or righties, or a pitcher cannot pitch more than 90 pitches, or 6 innings, or complete a shutout or no-hitter….. “WHY?” we say?
BECAUSE they never get a chance to prove they can, or never get to improve on those numbers bogus numbers.
ANAL-ytics is just that…. “ANAL”.
These guys work hard to get to the “Big Show”, and when they get there, they are then are led to believe they cannot hit a leftie or a rightie, or cannot pitch a complete game. LMAO!
Jonah Keri writes today (or speculates) that the Dodgers May go for players with narrower splits. Abreu and Harper mentioned as targets. Pederson, Puig maybe the other way?
Rumors are nothing more than that. Tomorrow MLB’s winter circus begins in Las Vegas. That’s when truth comes out and rumors are put to bed. I see a story that the Mets are interested in him, then the Indians, and I see few story’s about the Dodgers fixing their needs, catcher and the bullpen. The outfield is loaded. Kemp is near impossible to trade unless they take someone’s bad salary in return, or pay a huge part of his contract. The fact still remains that the CBT is at 206. Salaries for the Dodgers as they sit now without the arbitration figures added is 150 million. They figure 42 million for the 8 guys in arbitration. That leaves 14 million. So, unless they dump a lot of salary, you are not seeing Harper. That’s a pipe dream. You are not going to see a premium arm for the bullpen unless they trade for one or dump some salary. Those are the facts. Friedman is under a mandate to stay under the CBT. I have no doubt he will. I expect a couple of trades maybe, but no major free agents.
Bluefan4life makes this great point:
“These guys work hard to get to the “Big Show”, and when they get there, they are then are led to believe they cannot hit a leftie or a rightie, or cannot pitch a complete game. LMAO!” That is now the Dodger way of doings things unfortunately and I still say this approach was one reason why Dodgers fell short in the WS in 2018. Only thing I can say is that while I am not necessarily advocating trading Puig, if indeed he is disgruntled and does not trust management, then it would be time to move him but for only in the right deal that addresses a team need.
If that is the measuring stick on who gets traded, then most of the team will want to be traded. This brand of baseball just sucks donkey’s.