Yasiel Puig’s rocky tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a new low this season when the club optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Puig’s demotion was the first of his career and came at a perplexing time.
Although the 25-year-old was again suffering from some inconsistency, he’d seemingly turned a corner since coming off the disabled list in June. Nonetheless, the Dodgers attempted to trade Puig prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline.
Unable to move him and with Josh Reddick’s arrival, Los Angeles resorted to sending Puig to the Minors in a decision that was said to be tied to behavioral and off-the-field matters.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently expressed optimism that Puig would benefit from his time in the Minors.
Friedman also traveled to Oklahoma City to watch Puig play, and had what Friedman described as a positive discussion.
However, it appears the Dodgers are attempting to trade their enigmatic outfielder, according to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe:
The Dodgers are trying to give away Puig, but no luck. Puig, with Triple A Oklahoma City, is considered toxic at the moment, but it takes only one team to want him. He doesn’t have too many allies in the Dodgers organization, but as one team official said recently, “At some point, the talent, the maturity is going to take hold. Someone will benefit from it. We hope it’s us, but it’s hard to envision it right now.”
The notion that the Dodgers would sell low on Puig is a difficult one to accept. Particularly when considering the front office decided against a trade during the offseason, when his stock was also low.
What’s more, Puig is batting .417/.472/.750 with two doubles, one triple, four home runs and 12 RBIs in 13 games with Oklahoma City. He took responsibility for being demoted and spoke of needing to improve as a teammate in order to return to the Majors.
If placed on trade waivers this month, it’s believed the Atlanta Braves would consider in putting in a claim on the dynamic talent.
