by Amaury Pi Gonzalez
photo credit: insidesocal.com Dodgers Yasiel Puig celebrates with the bat flip after going yard
LOS ANGELES–I interviewed Yasiel Puig at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles prior to a game against the Los Angeles Angels, what is commonly known as the Freeway Series, inter-league. He is a busy man, I had to wait at least 30 minutes, on the clock to finally speak with him. Before doing the interview I told him I (like him) was born in Cuba, he smiled and we got along fine for the 3 minutes of the pregame interview. He is one of those guys that knows he is a good player, with the potential of greatness, and anybody that has seen him knows that is the case. There is little doubt in my mind that if the Dodgers can swing a deal and send Puig someplace else, they would do it, and they have probably tested the waters even before the Winter Meetings which concluded yesterday in Nashville.
Some of his teammates like Adrian Gonzalez and A.J Ellis, two established players have publicly said Puig is the worst teammate they ever had, period. That is not very nice coming from your teammates. Puig was a total headache for manager Don Mattingly (now manager of the Marlins)and although during the past three years he has been an attraction at Dodger Stadium, he has become much more of a distraction. Think of this, if you are not a fan of Don Mattingly, even with that huge distraction he managed to win three consecutive Western Divisions for the Dodgers, the only manager ever to accomplish that.
Yasiel Puig is only 25 years old, born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, same city where Jose Abreu was born, the 2014 AL Rookie of The Year and first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, but two totally different personalities. like night and day, Abreu shows discipline, listens to his coaches, works very hard, Puig…well? Puig came to the major leagues in 2013,his rookie year, when he hit .319 hit 19 home runs and drove-in 42 runs and played in a total of 104 games, in 2014 he played in 148 games and finished with a .319 average 19 home runs and 42 runs batted in, this season he played in only 79 games and finished with a .296 with 16 home runs and 67 runs batted in, no he was not Mike Trout during his first three seasons, this last one he was hurt must of the time. But such is a dilemma with a player of such talent, you really never know when he is going to explode and have a year for the ages.
Yasiel Puig is signed by the Dodgers thru 2018, his actual contract with the Dodgers is for seven years and $42 million dollars, definitely a very good contract for a guy with that type of talent, $6 million per season for seven seasons. On the other hand, Yasiel Puig was a rookie when he came to the major leagues and never played a full season in the minor leagues; not a rare occurrence for a player from Cuba. Players from Cuba come in to a different set of rules when it comes to signing and contracts. The Major League salary for a rookie is $500,000.
The big question: Can the Dodgers find a team they can trade Puig to? A friend of mine told me that Miami would be perfect, he is from Cuba, Miami is called “The Second Capital of Cuba in Exile”, but it would be cruel to trade him to a team where Don Mattingly his ex-manager of the Dodgers is now running the show. So just because of common sense, I would eliminate the Marlins as a team for Puig. Yes, I believe there are teams out there that would take a risk with Puig. I do not believe he will be traded now in the off season, but things change in a hurry in baseball these days, did anybody predict Zack Greinke signing with the Diamondbacks?
In my opinion the Dodgers will keep Yasiel Puig to start the 2016 season, and see how things go. Puig has the talent to be a superstar, and maybe the Dodgers can still get lucky and that is what they hope, now with rookie manager Dave Roberts, but the problem still lingers for Puig, when you do not have the support of some of your teammates, that is a very bad scenario for him. Maybe somebody can get into his head, he needs to change his attitude and this guy could hit .300 hit 30 or more home runs and drive 100 runs, if he plays a whole year, free from injury.
Puig’s temperament is just like his play on the field, he can make an incredible catch in right field and look like Roberto Clemente and the next time a ball is hit his way he will overrun it and play a single into a triple. During the Winter Meetings,the Dodgers had Aroldis Chapman traded from Cincinnatti and then allegations of domestic violence against the closer surfaced. Now Chapman is toxic, the Dodgers might never have him and his future with the Reds is also undecided. The Dodgers lost Greinke to Arizona, who now looks like the team to beat in the NL West, so this has not been a good off-season for the LA Dodgers, and if they had the magic touch they would easily trade Yasiel Puig. But I do not believe is going to happen, he will play in 2016 with the Dodgers. The future of Yasiel Puig, is really a total unknown. You can flip a coin with him and then make a decision and that might be as wise a decision you will make with a player like Yasiel Puig.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and also does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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