More than two hours after Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline passed, social media was again buzzing with a report that Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig did not travel with the club to Denver.
Citing anonymous Major League sources, Ken Rosental of FOX Sports reported that Puig stormed out of Dodger Stadium after learning he was to be traded Monday or optioned to the Minors.
Rosenthal later retracted those specifics of the information once it became apparent Puig was previously made aware of the Dodgers’ plans and thus never stepped foot in the clubhouse to meet with the traveling party.
Los Angeles was rumored to be shopping Puig in trade talks over recent weeks, and added to their outfielder by acquiring Josh Reddick in a five-player trade with the Oakland Athletics.
To this point the lone member of the Dodgers organization to publicly comment on the matter is manager Dave Roberts, via Greg Beachem of the Associated Press:
“(Puig) did what the organization asked him to do,” Roberts said in a text message. “We didn’t want him to come to the ballpark because we knew he wasn’t going to Denver with us. We were looking for more production from that position, so we acquired a player who is having a really good year and great track record.”
Puig was out of the lineup seven consecutive games after suffering a hamstring injury July 22. He was limited to a pair of pinch-hit appearances prior to starting Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Puig previously missed 17 games in June after a left hamstring strain forced him to the 15-day disabled list. While the 25-year-old outfielder has improved at the place since being reinstated, Puig is batting .260/.320/.386 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 34 RBIs in 81 games.
To Puig’s credit, he’s continued to play stellar defense in right field no matter his struggles at the plate.
