Yasiel Puig is saying some harsh things about the Dodgers. Puig fans are caught in the middle and taking sides.
Oscar Martinez
I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.
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Maybe he should look in the mirror, especially after saying he didn’t work as hard and especially after he has shown in recent years his inability to hit LHP as a RHB.
Nobody should feel like a child of a divorce, the deal made sense for the Dodgers and gives Puig the chance to get more ABs and have better stats going into his final Arb and FA seasons…
It’s all good. The Dodgers are replete with OFs needing ABs.
The Dodgers took you from nowhere and made you a millionaire and a household name. Best to stuff a sock in it, Yasiel!
Chill Dan.
Go take a walk in the Huntington Gardens.
Don’t step in the Peacock poop
Been there once, years ago. Forgot about the peacocks. …Pasadena’s a nice place.
Best of luck to Puig. He was a fun player to watch and will always be known as a Dodger. Too bad if the FO didn’t like him and played their game to get rid of him. He should have been kept in my opinion. Dummy Friedman just did to him what he has done to the fans many times. Hurt the team. He is now being colored as the bad guy. How would anyone feel to be given away for nothing of course with Kemp, Wood and Farmer. When they get rid of someone they color the ballplayer as the bad guy. I will miss Puig and so will many fans.
After 3 shutout innings today, Tony Gonsolin’s spring line is:
9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 6 K, 2 BB.
Puig has every right to be bitter with the Front Office. Constant, prevalent indications of how Puig was on the trading block were bound to take a toll on Puig’s attitude. Similar affects on Matt Kemp, as well. I wish them both well. For both of them, it was obvious that the Dodger brass had no intentions of continuing their relationship with both of them. Constantly sitting them and disciplining them more harshly than with others on the team was totally unfair.
Puig has every right to be bitter, and so do his fans. I’ll always be a Dodger Fan, but that does not mean that I have to agree with their decision to trade Puig, let alone all the other bonehead decisions they make on a frequent basis.
I do not concider myself stuck in the middle, I still love the Dodgers, and will also remain a Yasiel Puig fan, too.
I always got the feeling that the FO was waiting for Puig to get to the Mendoza line and just dump him and replace him with a crappy vet platoon. But he was just too talented for that to happen, and he actually improved in his hitting under Ward, and most of all the crappy vets and other options we had just sucked.
I think if you want to trade a talented malcontent, you do the opposite of what we did with Puig and you keep everything in the locker room. We hurt ourselves with all the FO and vet backsniping.
I liked his talent level, but his admission he didn’t work hard says it all for me. We’ll see how that cocky attitude plays in a conservative Midwest city. I wish him only what he deserves.
Roberts says he might start Kershaw in a “non traditional” role on Opening Day. We know what that means. 3 innings, then Stripling or Urias for 3. And so it goes. Personally I don’t let him pitch until I see a current MRI. He hasn’t pitched for nearly 5 months and the last time he did he threw 92 pitches and went 7. He gave up 4 earned and lost. 5 months later he can’t go 5?
Not having MLB to watch theses games doesn’t really allow me opportunity to see and evaluate. So I’ll just read box scores and listen to what the experts say. So, what say ye experts? We gonna win 95 this year?
No.
Win totals are tough. Especially because the division is so poor.
I say 50%-50% they get to the World Series for a 3x.
What FO backsniping was that?
It seems to me that Robert’s and the organization did all it good to help him. As far as I can tell they never publicly criticized him and tried to support but also hold him accountable. If I have an issue with Roberts it’s that he’s not frank enough and sugarcoats everything and everyone to the point of prevarication.
I liked Puig, but apparently he had maturity issues and lapses in concentration and work ethic, and after five years of underachievement and babysitting it was time to move on. That he would trash his former team is only confirmation of those maturity issues that ultimately made it the right move. The Dodgers got what got for him because that’s what he was worth. That commenters here would place blame on the FO for somehow CAUSING his maturity issues is nonsensical.
I think you’re misreading my post Patch. It was clear they wanted to trade him all along but they way they handled him was not the best way to go about it.
True, I don’t think it was a secret they wanted to trade him. They did send him down to the minors, which should have been an indication they weren’t happy with him. I don’t think that’s backsniping, and I’m sure Roberts had some conversations with him to help him see the errors of his ways. Maybe he should have risen to the occasion instead, changed his approach and his attitude, had an epiphany, seen a therapist, read a self-help book. He’s certainly not a victim.
His antics from a fans’ perspective were somewhat endearing, but I think Pollock is a huge upgrade, not only in his offensive and defensive ceiling, but also with respect to the seriousness he brings to his profession. Someone somewhere else compared him to Chase Utley. I kind of like that comp.
Patch,
There’s an underlying current of conspiracy by some against Kemp and Puig. It’s pretty funny, TBH. It varies from -I kid you not- a preference for those who play (played?) fantasy football with the front office, to some sort of jealousy with Kemp.
OTOH:
Stuff from around:
Santa’s Reindeer: You guys listed Josiah Gray and Michael Grove as potential top 100 guys on next year’s list. What’s the biggest thing you guys are looking for from each/both of them this year that would move them up?
Eric A Longenhagen: Gray would be development of a third impact pitch, Grove is a blind dart throw based on LA’s track record with injured college arms.
Jarrod (OK):
I think you were the first guy I saw that dubbed Zach Willeman as a potential break out.. seems like the rest of the industry is starting to slowly get on board. What type of pitcher do you think he becomes? #3/#4 starter, dominant RP? Or chance for more.. thanks for chatting!
Kyle Glaser: If he can really hold 94-96 with two plus breaking balls, that’s a front of the rotation starter. He did that in short bursts last year. Seeing if he can maintain that over a full season with control is another challenge. But what he showed had Dodgers personnel reminiscing of what happened with Walker Buehler post-TJ. It was that sick. Now we’ll see if he can hold it.
JaKob (Dallas, TX):
Is Dennis Santanna going to get another chance this year? It seems like a bunch of injuries are going to have to happen for him to start.. Can you give me your opinion on him and your thoughts on him being a potential trade chip? Would he be starting in other rotations around the league. Thanks Kyle.
Kyle Glaser: He will, especially when you know Kershaw and Hill are going to go down at some point. I like him a lot (have since the Cal League when it was clear he was better than Alvarez and it wasn’t close). The fastball and slider combo are great, if the changeup continues to come along he can be one of those No. 4 starters who is a little wild but gets a lot of whiffs. As far as other rotations around the league, heck, he’d be the Rangers second-best SP right now. As long as he comes back healthy, he’ll be able to help the Dodgers in a lot of ways. Starting, relieving, trade chip for significant contributor. He’s legit.
Pablo (New York):
Does Clint Frazier need out of New York, like yesterday? And can the same be said for Alex Verdugo in LA.
Kyle Glaser: Frazier you can at least see the potential avenue to playing time with Gardner a free agent after this season. I get why they’re holding onto him. Frazier, Hicks, Judge and Stanton as the OF/DH rotation beginning in 2020 can work. Verdugo though, I’m not convinced he’s better than any of the Dodgers’ other options, and he comes with a whole lot of baggage. Going somewhere else with less OF depth would be beneficial to his career. I’m not sure he ever gets to his potential with the Dodgers
TP: Any good reasons why Texas wouldn’t just let Willie Calhoun play everyday?
Keith Law: Where?
DF: Re. the Reds. If they are out of it in July, do you see a chance to recoup similar value to what they gave up with Puig, Wood, etc.?
Keith Law: Zero chance.
So, what you’re telling me as that the critics of the trade and the detractors of the FO are assigning to them motivations that are rooted in irrationality and blind hatred, even though engaging in such behavior goes against the Dodger’s rational self interest?
I think there’s a term for that: Projection.
“DF: Re. the Reds. If they are out of it in July, do you see a chance to recoup similar value to what they gave up with Puig, Wood, etc.?
Keith Law: Zero chance.”
LOL
That was some good stuff, btw. I didn’t know Zach Willeman was in the rise to that degree.
Well, so far this spring it looks like Puig is hitting .375 and a 1.272 OPS with 4 HRs and 11RBIs and Kemp has a .323 avg and a 1.073OPS with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs while Farmer kicks in with a .375 avg and a 1.250 OPS with 2HRs and 7 RBIs. That totals out to 9 HRs and 26 RBIs so far this spring. I realize this is just the spring but this type of hitting while not receiving ANYTHING in a trade with the Reds is really crazy. How could anyone be stupid enough to make a trade like this one? Just another indication of a dumb move by a bunch of dummies.
Because it’s Spring Training package! Stats are about as valuable as the banner ads I block on this site.
Austin Barnes has two homers and 12 RBIs! With Pederson at 3 and 7 and Kike with 3 and 11.
That’s 8 HRs and 30 RBIs!
To use your verbal cues:
Another indication of very smart people dealing from a position of surplus depth!
Bluto
You don’t think it is a little strange that all 3 position players are playing well? I mentioned in the previous comment that I knew it was just spring so I am aware the numbers are not as hard to achieve as the regular season but still are very good numbers from players who were just GIVEN AWAY!!!
2 things:
If the players can be replaced by younger, cheaper players and you can recoup prospects, WTF not?
Seriously Package, I defy you to find one example of “management coloring” Puig or Kemp as trouble-makers.
Bluto
I defy you to find one example of Friedman and co. talking about what great teammates Kemp and Puig were? When the seed is planted and watered they let it grow.
They don’t talk about 99% of the team as being a great team-mate!
They haven’t said it about Bellinger. Are they down on him? Urias? Jansen? Ferguson? Pederson?
What kind of silly reverse logic is this?
Wow.
Package,
I hear you. Puig, Kemp, and Farmer definitely have redemption on their minds, and I do not blame them. Three solid ballplayers who were victims of FO ignorance. FO chose to undermine their obvious talents with rediculous sabermetrics. FO will never admit that they made a mistake, but hopefully these players can put up numbers that will have FO looking for somewhere to hide, and have fans looking for answers.
Sure, Kemp, and Puig may have had some faults, sometimes Management brings out the worst in players. Nobody is perfect, just look at “The Smirk”. FO treated this lazy clown favorably, unlike Kemp, and Puig, who were benched for various reasons. Farmer was never given a fair chance, while we had to painfully watch Grandal struggle. Letting “The Smirk” walk was a no brainer decision by the FO. On the other hand, to let Kemp, Puig and Farmer, as well as Wood, go for absolutely nothing was truely a big mistake. We sure could’ve used Wood as an option, with the current situations with Kershaw and Buehler, and unpredictability of Ryu.
This was something us fans could not control, so all we can do is let this blunder go, and continue to hope our Dodgers will recover. Just look at it as a business decision gone wrong. I somewaht sympatize with the FO, because Money and Business can lead to poor decisions. FO will continue to make mistakes, as will the players. Life goes on.
Blue,
I get that management makes mistakes. I just don’t see why they make so many? I also do not see why these players are supposed to be terrible because of their attitudes but never heard it when the season was going on? Management colors them as trouble makers to justify their moves. It is because of their goal of making as much money as possible even at the expense of the fans and players.
Package,
We are preaching to the choir. Glad to see someone other than me, who has a little sense of reality. Unfortunate that so many fans refuse to see it.
Just because we criticize Management, does not mean we are not good fans…. just good, frustrated fans.
Sure, Puig had his issues.
I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when “The Smirk” was up to no good with his attitude and shenanigans, he was not repremanded, and the FO turned a blind eye. That would piss anybody off. Certainly would make me bitter. Puig had every right to badmouth the FO.