As the trade deadline was approaching, the Dodgers dissatisfaction with Yasiel Puig only continued to grow. The organization felt as if Puig was immature, he wouldn’t properly rehab his injuries which only made him more prone to reinjuring them, and the Dodgers felt as if Puig wasn’t properly preparing himself for games. So when the Dodgers had the opportunity to also go after gold glove outfielder Josh Reddick when talking to the Athletics about acquiring Rich Hill, they decided to go after the veteran outfielder, leaving uncertainty as to what was going to happen to Puig.
Once the trade became finalized, the Dodgers sent Puig down to Oklahoma City. During Puig’s first week in his Triple-A assignment he posted numerous videos on his Snapchat Story of himself and his teammates partying and it is implied, but not confirmed that Puig and numerous teammates were intoxicated during the night. Of course these videos do not give the Dodgers any confidence that Puig has matured, but his numbers say otherwise. Throughout his 14 games in Triple-A he has a .394 batting average while hitting 2 doubles, 1 triple and 4 home runs and driving in 12 RBIs.
Puig’s replacement, Josh Reddick has had a rather slow start since joining the Dodgers. In his 21 games in the Dodger blue he is hitting .146 with 1 extra base hit and ZERO RBIs. So if Puig is raking in Triple A and Reddick has been struggling, why haven’t the Dodgers recalled Puig? The simpler answer to that question would be due to the incredible performance by Dodger utility players, Rob Segedin and Andrew Toles. The new father Rob Segedin has been hitting .263 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs since he made his major league debut 17 games ago. Andrew Toles has been hitting .340 with 2 home runs and 8 runs batted in when he is on the Dodgers major league roster.
The Dodgers are in no rush to make a move with Puig, his contract is one of the more manageable ones on the Dodgers payroll and he still signed to the team through 2018. Numerous teams have shown interest in Puig, but the Dodgers haven’t received any offer that they feel is worth their while. It appears like the Dodgers will not be sending off Puig anytime soon, still leaving the opportunity for him to rejoin the team if another outfielder were to get injured before the season ended or to help out the team during the playoffs.
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