Why the Dodgers ultimately could decide to trade Yasiel Puig

Buster OlneyNov 21, 2015, 08:46 AM ET

It’s unlikely the Dodgers will trade Yasiel Puig, writes Dylan Hernandez. From Dylan’s piece:

As the Los Angeles Dodgers were playing their final regular-season games last month, they received word that a sidelined Yasiel Puig could return to them in time for the playoffs.

On the surface, a positive development. But that wasn't how the news was received in the clubhouse.

Multiple players said at the time their preference was for Puig to remain at the team's spring training complex in Arizona. They feared his oversized personality and underwhelming work habits would disrupt them more than his breathtaking talent would help.

At the time that Puig went down, the Dodgers’ won-loss record was 70-56, and they were in the midst of a four-game winning streak. With Puig out of the lineup and mostly away from the team, the Dodgers won 17 of their next 26 and buried the Giants, and there were folks within the organization who noted the difference. A lot of the people within the clubhouse viewed Puig as a constant distraction because of what they perceive to be his indifferent work ethic and his lack of punctuality.

Steve Dilbeck reviewed a recent radio interview conducted by Andy Van Slyke, the father of longtime Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke.

Former major leaguer Andy Van Slyke, father of Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke, shared a story on a St. Louis sports talk show on WGNU-AM that was clearly coming from Clayton Kershaw. Scott Van Slyke is one of Kershaw’s closest friends on the team.

When interviewer Frank Cusumano asked Andy Van Slyke what his take was on Puig, he said:

“When the best player -- the highest-paid player on the Los Angeles Dodgers -- goes to the GM and tells him, or is asked what is the No. 1 need or what are the needs of the Los Angeles Dodgers club, this particular highest-paid player said, 'The first thing you need to do is get rid of Puig.' That's all you need to know.”

Cusumano mistakenly guessed the quote came from first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

“No, he’s not the highest-paid player,” Andy Van Slyke said.

Cusumano quickly deduced it was Kershaw.

“I didn’t say his name,” Van Slyke said.

Van Slyke was not asked to expand or explain his comment, but anyone who has followed the Dodgers is aware what a divisive figure the young Cuban has been during his 2 1/2 years with the Dodgers.

This is a problem, of course, the biggest name on the team calling out Puig, even if through the unusual circumstance of a father of another player.

The Dodgers backhandedly admitted Puig needed to upgrade his work ethic at the general managers meeting last week when President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman said they wanted him to lose weight.

So there continues to be a lot of indication that Dodger players and staffers are pretty sick of Puig, and sources within the organization say that the team’s leadership above Friedman is much more open to the idea of moving Puig than they would’ve been, say, 18 months ago.

This is a classic situation when being a big-market, big-budget team like the Dodgers has advantages, because you really don’t have to worry about maximizing value in trades the way that someone like Oakland’s Billy Beane or Cleveland's Chris Antonetti does, or the way that Friedman did when he ran the Tampa Bay Rays.

Because if the front office ever determines that Puig is a problem who needs to be excised, they can move him without fretting over the lost nickels in a poorly timed trade -- and there’s no question that if the Dodgers moved Puig now, they’d be selling low. Puig, who turns 25 in December, is coming off a season in which he hit .255, with a .322 on-base percentage and a .758 OPS, or more than 150 points lower than his OPS in 2013. His reputation precedes him: The industry is well aware of the fact that before the only game Puig started in the postseason, Game 4 in the National League Division Series, he arrived on the last bus and was late to get on the field for the team’s pregame work.

While frustrating to teammates, he has also demonstrated his awesome abilities -- the power, the speed, the rocket arm. If the Dodgers made him available, there will be teams ready to take him on, to see if he can turn the page. The Dodgers would get something decent for him in a trade, even if it’s not as much as they think they should.

If the front office sees Puig as a negative force in their clubhouse, they cannot and should not obsess about that. They can acquire a replacement through free agency in outbidding the field for someone like Alex Gordon. They can make sure to bring back Howie Kendrick, to provide some right-handed balance for their lineup.

The Yankees came to understand years ago that financial muscle to wipe out mistakes could be incredibly valuable. They signed Ed Whitson to a five-year deal following the 1984 season, in spite of concerns that he wouldn’t be comfortable in the New York market, and when he struggled so much that the team was reluctant to pitch him in home games at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees dumped him and moved on. The same thing happened with Kenny Rogers a decade later: After he signed a free-agent deal and immediately floundered, they swapped him for Scott Brosius, swallowing a lot of the money owed to the pitcher. The Yankees beat out the Red Sox in the bidding for Jose Contreras, but when he had troubles, they moved quickly to unload him.

If you are running the Rays, or the Pirates, it’s much more difficult to act decisively in this way, because those teams really don’t have the ability to paper over mistakes. But the Dodgers and Yankees can act aggressively; they don’t have to wait.

If Friedman believes today that the Dodgers are probably better off without Puig, he should move him this winter.

Notables

• The Tigers picked up Cameron Maybin.

This gives Detroit some outfield options, writes Chris McCosky.

The Royals should go into the 2016 season as strong favorites to win the American League Central, but once the Tigers add a couple of starting pitchers -- as they plan to -- they should have a good team, if not necessarily a great team.

• The Diamondbacks are sleepers in the winter market, and one of the pitchers they’ve discussed internally as a possible target is Johnny Cueto.

• Atlanta moved Maybin, and the Dodgers are pursuing Darren O’Day, Jerry Crasnick reported.

• Mark McGwire could be the Padres’ next bench coach.

• It was mentioned here during the summer that Bryce Harper has a chance to become the first player to get a $500 million contract. Adam Kilgore writes today about what Harper’s big contract could be worth.

By the time Harper becomes a free agent, after the 2018 season, the most applicable precedent -- Alex Rodriguez, who signed for $252 million with the Texas Rangers at age 25, in the fall of 2000 -- will be almost two decades old. The greatest X-factors for Harper and his chances for getting that megadeal will probably be the state of the U.S. economy and disposable income, which seemed to constrain the outer limits of baseball salaries somewhat in the decade after Rodriguez signed his whopper contract.

But Harper, like Rodriguez, will be a very different free agent at a very young age.

• The reps for Yoenis Cespedes have created a splashy book.

If Cespedes doesn’t gain traction in his search for a big-money deal in the next month or so, you could see the Orioles becoming a mid-winter option for the slugger -- as they were for Nelson Cruz before he signed a one-year deal in 2014, or for Ubaldo Jimenez. They have payroll flexibility, they have a need for a corner outfielder, and Cespedes obviously would do significant damage in the Orioles’ park.

• Bill Plaschke was the first to write that Dave Roberts was getting serious consideration to be the Dodgers’ next manager, and this week, sources reiterate that -- that the veteran outfielder has impressed the L.A. leadership with his presence.

If Roberts does indeed beat out Gabe Kapler to become the Dodgers’ next manager, either the Dodgers or the Padres will be teed up to look brilliant -- or to have made a major mistake. Because although Roberts has been with the Padres for years, he was not seriously considered for their managerial opening.

• Wilin Rosario was designated for assignment.

• The Rule 5 draft will be held in 19 days, and in Evan Drellich’s story, he highlights a couple of players left exposed in the strong Houston farm system:

Righthanded pitchers Jandel Gustave, Joe Musgrove, Juan Minaya and David Paulino were shielded, as were catcher Alfredo Gonzalez, outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana…

[More]

…If there’s second-guessing to be done when the Rule 5 draft is held on the final day of the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, it’ll be whether Aplin and Fontana were worth protecting over a couple of players with some standout tools who might well be taken in the draft.

They’re a pair of Class AAA position players who are close to being contributors in the big leagues and perhaps would have had a good chance to stick with another club, even if they don’t have tremendous tools. Aplin made a particularly good impression in spring training last year, and the 24-year-old has a lifetime .385 on-base percentage in the minors. He doesn’t have much pop, though. Fontana, also 24, is in a similar boat with a .409 OBP lifetime, but not much power.

The most notable name the Astros did not protect is 6-4 lefty Reymin Guduan, a 23-year-old who struck out as many batters as he walked, 19, at Class AA Corpus Christi this season. Despite his control problems, he’s a rare left-handed pitcher who can hit 100 mph.

It’s virtually guaranteed someone’s going to take a chance on that. But the Astros appear to be betting that even if Guduan is taken, his control problems won’t allow him to stay in the majors all season.

Class AA catcher Roberto Pena, meanwhile, is an excellent defensive catcher who throws out about 50 percent of runners, which could appeal to a team looking for a backup catcher. Gonzalez too is good defensively but has shown better hitting ability, which is why the Astros protected Gonzalez over Pena. They’re both 23, and both ended the season with Corpus.

Moves, deals and decisions

1. The Pirates added four to their 40-man roster, including Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell.

2. The Royals added Kyle Zimmer and Bubba Starling to their 40-man roster.

3. The Reds signed a pitcher.

4. The Indians added five to their 40-man roster.

5. The Cubs have room to add to their 40-man roster. The Cubs picked up a reliever.

6. The Rangers got an infielder from the Cubs.

7. The Brewers made a small trade.

8. The Twins lost a couple of players to waiver claims.

9. The Dodgers added two to their 40-man roster.

10. The Rays dumped some veterans to make room for some young pitchers.

11. The Jays and A’s swapped pitchers. Liam Hendricks had been one of the Jays’ better relievers.

It’s a fascinating trade because it probably reflects the feelings about reliever volatility: On the surface, it is odd that Toronto would give up a young reliever coming off a good year, and it may be the Blue Jays' sense this was the best time to move a hot stock for more value than he might’ve gleaned a year ago.

12. Allen Webster, one of the prime prospects moved in the mega-Adrian Gonzalez trade, was designated for assignment by Arizona.

13. Oakland cut some pitchers.

14. The Angels added a pitching prospect.

15. The Mariners moved to dump a former No. 2 overall pick.