Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Team Still Deciding on Yasiel Puig

As we wait for a decision from Zack Greinke (which might come anytime, according to one report), the Dodgers still have plenty on the mind.

The Winter Meetings are right around the corner, and as Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi get their travel plans in order, the chaos that will meet them there has to be both exhilarating and exacerbating.



Fittingly enough, those adjectives still adequately describe their starting right fielder: Yasiel Puig.


ICYMI: Kapler Expected To Remain With The Dodgers In Some Capacity


It appears the front office is still undecided on what to do with him, though, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN:

Friedman’s group has worked fairly diligently to make the Dodgers’ clubhouse more functional, but it’s no secret that Yasiel Puig has sometimes been a divisive figure in the room. Greinke, among others, has been reported to dislike the way Puig sometimes ignores team rules. Roberts will give Puig a fresh start, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to find it easy to manage him.

So, will the Dodgers trade Puig? They’re not giving an indication. Friedman said he doesn’t feel compelled to do so because of Puig’s personality, but he likely would consider it, particularly if the Dodgers could get a good, young starting pitcher like Miller in return.

Boy, that tidbit on Greinke sure is interesting, isn’t it? Wednesday, the Dodgers re-signed catcher A.J. Ellis, with whom Greinke is incredibly close. Yes, Yasmani Grandal is the catcher Greinke preferred to throw to late in the season, but in terms of days between starts, it’s been widely reported that he and Ellis spend a lot of time talking strategy. The reason I point all this out is Ellis might make the Dodgers just a little more intriguing for the vaunted free agent.

If Puig has the opposite effect, the reasons for keeping him around are becoming tougher and tougher to find.

As our William Oberst wrote recently, the decision to move Puig involves almost innumerable factors. Anyone who screams loudly on either side of whether or not to trade Yasiel is probably ignoring the many factors that run contrary to their point of view.

NEXT: How The Dodgers Could Move On Without Greinke If Need Be

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6 Comments

  1. I can’t imagine this front office isn’t at least a little chagrined over trading away Dee at what they likely thought was his top trade value so I have to assume this colors their decision making at least a little.
    There’s just as big a likelihood that they trade Puig for what seems like a steal of a return and he is an intermittent success/bust elsewhere as there is he somehow gets his act together enough to be a true star, or even better! Since everyone seems to agree he’s at a tipping point, and that he’s cheap…why risk losing further credibility by trading an ultimately star young, cheap player?
    If he ends up being an irreparable knucklehead, I don’t think fans will fault the new front office NEARLY as much as if they get a reasonably talented young pitcher and Puig goes elsewhere and becomes a perennial 30/30 guy with a cannon arm!

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