Yesterday Puig stormed off after a meeting with the Dodgers where the team told him he’d either be traded or sent to the minors.
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After the team informed the 25-year-old outfielder that he would be sent down to the minor leagues, Puig reportedly threw a tantrum and left Dodger Stadium. We didnt want him to come to the ballpark because we knew he wasnt going to Denver with us.
Puig’s antics have simmered down some the past year or so, but that did not stop the Dodgers from sending the right fielder to the minors today to make room for new Dodgers right fielder Josh Reddick and starting pitcher Rich Hill. The Dodgers also acquired Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto from the Boston Red Sox in August 2012 after each was placed on waivers.
The Dodgers (59-46) couldn’t trade Puig, but they were busy at the deadline as they prepare to chase San Francisco (61-44) over the final two months of the NL West race. According to CBS Sports, a player like Puig can be placed on the waivers and the Dodgers have three options.
With Puig out of the lineup, the team has inserted Reddick in right field.
Yasiel Puig will be demoted to the Dodgers’ Class AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have made it official.
“If we felt like it was a significant risk and an extended window that he wouldn’t be able to pitch, we obviously wouldn’t have given up the players we did”, said general manager Farhan Zaidi.
Though Puig said his preference at the time was to remain a Dodger, he added “I understand this is a business”.
The Oklahoma City Dodgers conclude a nine-game road trip Tuesday night at Colorado Springs and open a four-game home stand Wednesday against Round Rock. The reality is that Yasiel Puig has not been awful this year; this season, he has hit.260/.320/.386 with seven home runs and 34 RBI.
Puig has been hampered by a nagging hamstring over the past couple of seasons.
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“We’ve been consistent with him as far as our desire for him to be a better person and baseball player”, Roberts said. He successfully defected on his fifth attempt off the island in a speedboat with help from, among others, a Mexican drug cartel and a Cuban mafia captain who was later shot to death. Two seasons later, the story is different for Yasiel Puig.
