Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Puig Being Shopped, Cubs Among Teams Interested

[new_royalslider id=”13″] In the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, Matt Kemp was the Los Angeles Dodger outfielder most often linked to rumors. In just two days after the Dodgers’ season came to an end, it’s been Yasiel Puig’s name in trade rumors.

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News suggested the Oakland Athletics could make a run at the Dodgers’ center fielder, albeit in a surprising move. On Thursday, George Ofman of WBBM Newsradio in Chicago, said the Dodgers were shopping Puig and the Cubs are among those interested:



The Cubs traded Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Athletics in July in exchange for three players, headlined by Addison Russell. As they’ve suffered through five straight losing seasons, the Cubs have stockpiled young talent that’s on the doorstep of leading them for years to come.

While the Dodgers have a crowded outfield, which led to manager Don Mattingly calling for a resolution this off-season, it’s difficult to fathom the team parting ways with their best outfielder. Furthermore, Puig is signed through 2018, though is eligible for arbitration following the 2015 season.

After another season in which they failed to reach the World Series, the Dodgers face several questions this winter. Among them is retooling and upgrading a bullpen that will still include Brian Wilson, who intends to exercise his player option, and making a decision in regards to Hanley Ramirez.

As for front office matters, reports indicate general manager Ned Colletti is on the hot seat, with manager Don Mattingly believed to be in better standing with the Guggenheim ownership group.

While that may be the present case, it could easily change if a new general manager is brought in as they presumably would want the opportunity to select their manager.

Staff Writer

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32 Comments

  1. Just stupid reporting….no way the Dodgers trade Puig .Ethier maybe..Puig, no way

    1. in the baseball world, nobody is safe. They want to make room for Joc Peterson to play everyday so if they can get back a few players with one of them being Starlin Castro to stabilize shortstop..I think they would consider it.

      1. I disagree for the following reasons..A. They have 2 SS under contract ..Guererro and Arruebarrana…Pederson has not proved he s anywhere close to big league ready Castro is not that good… pitchers maybe, but not for Puig.

        1. Guererro is playing 2nd base for the Dodgers, and Arruebarrana may be a good fielding shortstop, but he is not a good hitter. Plus he is already 27 while Castro is still only 24. You can pair Castro and Guerrero in the infield for a much longer period of time. Everyone knocks Castro, but he is a three time All-Star already. He can’t suck too bad. Like you said with Peterson…neither Arrubarrana or Guerrero have proven themselves. So keeping Puig if they lose Ramirez and do nothing with their short stop position would force the Dodgers to split time with Peterson, and play two position players that have very little experience up the middle. That really does not sound like a good choice to me.

          1. wrong..Guererro will not pay 2nd as long as Dee Gordon is on the team…..Guerrero also has a guaranteed 3 more years…if they trade him he can opt out,,,and what does being 27 have to do with anything?> Arruebarrenna is a great fielder, but no bat..Castro is not coming to the Dodgers. And they are not going t have Pederson split time…..he will be in AAA at the beginning of next year to be injury insurance…On of the 5 on the roster right now will be gone..with the new leadership, you never know who,.,,,but my bet is that SVS, Kemp and Puig are not going anywhere…..but CC and Ethier will be trade bit….most likely Ethier….so that would leave 4 OF’s, which is all you need,,,SVS is the only one who can play another position,,,so he stays on the roster…

          2. whatever happens, the Winter meetings should be fun to watch this year…

    2. Not to mention they have Puig signed for longterm at relatively dirt cheap. No way will they part with the deal they got on his contract

  2. A smart GM will listen to all offers for all players. That doesn’t mean the player being discussed is being “shopped.”

  3. Sensational headline designed to generate hits, followed by an insubstantional, speculative article seemingly based on somebody’s tweet. I’d like a job like that!

  4. This was stupid. Of course the Dodgers would field calls on anyone in their roster except probably Kershaw. This isn’t news.

    1. How silly. You take out the best pitcher in baseball for who? The only half way reliable person is Jansen and he’s not going to pitch the 7th. Who expected Kershaw not to be able to get out of the 7th in game 1? Who expected him to go from a 1 hitter to not being able to get anyone out in the last game?

    2. That’s just a stupid analysis…..Kersh was in the 7th inning in both games…..he has pitched a lot longer than that all year. The bullpen was the weakest part of the team, so who are you going to bring in? It was highly out of character for Kershaw to give up as many runs as he did in game 1 and they still were in a position to tie it at the end……game 4 he had a 1 hit shutout going into the 7th and gave up 3 runs…learn something about the game before you make asinine comments

  5. If you fire the GM, the new one is going to want to bring in his own manager, so Mattingley will then be on the hot seat. Fire them both and start fresh.

  6. Ned’s more likely to go than Yasiel… so who’s in the position to make the trade?

  7. Totally stupid of the Dodger front office if they do that. Yes, he has some maturing to do, but I think once he grows up a bit he will be an asset.

  8. Ned’s fine he did what he could teams didn’t want to deal to the spoiled Dodgers and the ones who did wanted our whole farm we just got beat fair and square we need to improve the bullpen to get further next season and Ned will get it done and the expense of Either or Crawford GO DODGERS!

  9. Serious click-bait on this post!
    This writer is hitting the Ganja a bit heavy me thinks..

    Go Dodger Blue!!

    1. So Kershaw has a 1 hitter going and you take him out? Not talking about hindsight here. Talking about actual in game strategy. Take him out and the bullpen gets shelled (like always) and everyone complains that it was stupid to take him out. No win.

      1. Follow me on what I’m saying. Of course he’s the best in the business,but going back to last season his problems came in the late innings. He had already got to 7th JOB WELL DONE. I’m not saying bring in one of the so so relievers I’m saying throw a starting arm Dan Haren not going to be used in the first round why not? He could quite possibly get you 9 outs. Definitely should have been good for six. Then give it to Jansen. You couldn’t expect Kershaw to have a complete game so when do you go get him? First sign of trouble. First sign we were down a run. Never would I try to make myself out to be a genius after the fact

  10. He was supposedly the only outfielder not being shopped last year and now he’s the one being shopped. No way! This is just plain stupid, even for Ned.

  11. As a Cubs fan, I don’t want him. I hope you don’t trade him, and if you do…I hope we don’t take him.

  12. I would be ok with trading Puig. He is the one that has actual value and with Kemp’s reemergence, we don’t need outfielders. We do however need quality bullpen arms. People say trade Ethier or Crawford. Nobody is going to pony up for those salaries. We would get nothing in return AND still have to subsidize their pay on another team. Did you know we still were paying Andruw Jones this year? It may take a multi-team trade to get the arms but do it. No over the hill players like before and no one that is not already a proven young arm. Van Slyke has earned a shot in the OF Ellis is cheap but we need some offense from the catcher’s spot. Great job in 4 playoff games but you can’t have a starting catcher with a sub .200 avg when runs are at a premium. I also wouldn’t offer Hanley a penny over a qualifying offer. He can’t stay healthy and if someone else signs him, we need that draft pick.

  13. Trade Puig for Giancarlo Stanton! And trade Van Slyke and Carl Crawford for a pitcher then sign Andrew Miller. C’mon Colletti I knew you would get us A-Gon and Greinke and you did, so keep up with the good trades!

  14. I’d like to know the source of this story. Trout is a better player at this point, but Puig is the most exciting player MLB has seen in a long time.

  15. Puig is like an unopened can of play doh. He is young, and can still be molded into what coaches and mentors do. And he’s cheap right now, compared to some of the other offers Cuban players are getting.

  16. I keep looking for the Dodger team. I do not see one. I do no think that the likes of Robinson Capanella, Snider, Hodges, Reese, Gilliam, Podres, Furillo and Preacher Roe would be impressed. Do not compare Kershaw to Koufax, Koufax won in the post season. Fire the entire bullpen, get another starter and try to remember what being a Dodger means.

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