Dodgers Team News

Yasiel Puig Has Bitter Words for the Dodgers

Yasiel Puig. The Wild Horse.

Everyone knows just how polarizing of a player and a presence Yasiel Puig is in baseball. Nobody knows it better than we do as Dodger fans.



Puig was a fan favorite through a minor league demotion and a spectacular rookie year. Many fans in Los Angeles have yet to move on from the blockbuster that shipped Yasiel Puig, along with Matt Kemp, Alex Wood, and Kyle Farmer, to Cincinnati.

This is for good reason. We had gotten attached to seeing Yasiel throw darts from right field, race around the bases like a madman, and lick his bat. However, it appears that Yasiel has moved on quicker than we have as a collective fan base.

He no longer dons the Dodger blue, which is fine, but the swift change of heart to a love for the Reds’ crimson stings a bit.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Tayler recently wrote a piece on Puig’s quick acclimation to Cincinnati, the Reds organization, and Puig’s current distaste for the Dodgers that effectively digs the knife a little deeper.

The article is a fantastic read if you are interested in some more insight into where Puig is at in his divorce from the Dodgers.

According to Reds manager David Bell, “He [Puig] keeps saying he likes red. I think that’s code for he likes it here.” That stings.

We know Yasiel Puig’s tenure in Los Angeles was rocky to say the least, but the smile, the bat licking, and the bat flips endeared us to him. But now, it is time to move on. Yasiel has and he has not been quiet about it.

“Now I have to do my part to show that they made a mistake,” Puig says. “I’ll show them what I could have done for them if they’d kept me.”

This comes in conjunction with recent comments made by Puig that produced further questions about how much effort he put into his Dodger years and that he would put in full effort with the Reds because of the divorce and the fact that he is in a contract year. Yasiel is trying way too hard to win this breakup.


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Yasiel Puig’s Bitterness Towards the Dodgers

Trade rumors swirled around Yasiel’s head for most of his career. It always seemed inevitable.

Yasiel Puig still seems bitter about the situation, though.

“It’s their problem,” Yasiel Puig said of the Dodgers’ trading of him to the Cincinnati Reds. “I don’t know what they did with that trade, because they didn’t get anyone who could help them the way I could. But that’s business.”

From a financial perspective, the deal made sense. But in a way, he is quite correct.

He also had quite a few words regarding the Dodgers’ failures in the past two seasons.

“It’s nice, but we haven’t won,” the 28-year-old Puig says in Spanish of his frequent trips to the postseason. “The only thing we’re getting is one more month instead of being on vacation. It’s as if you did nothing.”

“From what I’ve seen the last few years, we’ve been right there, but we haven’t gotten anybody good,” Puig says.

Again, he is possibly right, but on the other hand, Cincinnati has not put up a winning record since 2013. It isn’t like his new home is in much better shape. The Dodgers remain the class of the National League without the presence of Yasiel Puig in right field. How much winning is Yasiel going to do in his new home? Probably not much. The Reds made a lot of moves to better their ball club in the short-term and do have a solid long-term outlook, but they remain behind the Dodgers in both respects.

Puig is beloved and has fully made his mark in Dodgers history. He remains the type of player that you root for. He remains the type of player that you pay to see. Although the marriage has come to an end, Yasiel’s contributions to the Dodgers should be appreciated.

I wish Yasiel the best of luck in his endeavors in Cincinnati and beyond.

Still, it’s okay for us to root for woeful performances when he plays against us right?

Daniel Preciado

My name is Daniel Preciado and I am 19 years old. I am a sophomore Sport Analytics major and Cognitive Science and Economics dual minor at Syracuse University. When I am not in New York, I live in Whittier, California --- not too far from Chavez Ravine. I am pretty old-school for being an analytics guy and I will always embrace debate. Also, Chase Utley did absolutely nothing wrong.

30 Comments

  1. So he wants to show the Dodgers what he could have done while playing for the Reds but wouldn’t show the Dodgers what he could really do while with them and likely wouldn’t have tried to do if he were still in LA.

    Why is it hard to move on from Puig?….I’m as confused about that as it seems Puig is about being traded.

    1. If you did not see and appreciate what Puig did during he’s time as a Dodgers you were leaving in a cave! The energy he brought was miss understood by the likes of Roberts and Friedman but totally appreciated by the many adoring Latino fans that understood his emotions and hustle and the endless possibilities! For me the trade is personal and I will forgive but never will never forget! I wish him the best and will root for him to do well when he plays against us!

  2. Puig is correct, as I’ve long said. He was deeply under appreciated by both the front office and blaming fans. I wish him much success & happiness in his quest for the Hall of Fame. Buen Yasiel…!!!

  3. It’s easy to see the problem. The guy is too bitter about things that don’t include improving his talent. He is like a kid who doesn’t learn. Can’t wait to see Dodger pitchers throw that outside slider from the right and just about any pitch from lefties where he only hit 209. he’s really not much of a threat.

  4. Very Strange Comments from Puig……”NOW that I’m in a contract year I’ll really play hard & show them”?????…so after the contract you’ll go right back to your olde self???

  5. Although I was a fan of his, Puig was in the last year of his contract and wasn’t going to be resigned. He admitted in the off season he wasn’t happy being a Dodger. He was a clubhouse distraction and the only person that could keep in in check(Ward) is gone.. Trading him, instead of just letting him walk at the end of the year, was an obvious an brainer business decision that had to be made. Getting Jeter Downs in that trade could and should be considered a good move by the Dodgers. Pollock’s talent will make Dodger’s fans forget about Puig sooner then later.

  6. yasiel was not a free agent. he was traded. for literally nothing. the front office tried to get rid of him for years. why wouldnt he be bitter? hes a very emotional guy, its a big part of why the Dodger fans loved him. i wish him the best of luck.

  7. I don’t blame Puig to feel how he feels, he has all the right in the world. But even though I love what Puig brought to the table don’t mean that the dodgers were better with him. It’s a team effort and Puig should keep his mouth shut before he makes many of his fans mad and start hating him. But F$@! ……I’ma miss that dude!

  8. Not surprising. When the L.A. Times was gushing about Puig, I wrote about his immaturity and lack of baseball history and knowledge. A guy with a ton of talent, unfortunately none of it is in his head. Good Riddance!

  9. Puig will perform when he wants to perform, if he can. There were many times he showed he couldn’t do the job. And many time s they kept him in the lineup. As he mentioned, he’s in a new contract and he’s going to do better. It seems (and i have been saying this for a long time) that most players do this same thing and managers and owners don’t see it. The players do great in a new contract and start fizzing down and in the last year of the contract they’re back in form if not better. But Puig didn’t get that chance in the last year of the contract. I liked Puig,he was different but a bit too wild in many ways. I don’t like people that don’t admit that something is wrong and not working. Too many players do that,they try to hide the problem whether it’s physical, mental or what ever. They don’t want to talk to the right people about it. This not only hurts the player but the team also. As I mentioned before, I don’t like any long term contract. No one is superman/woman. They can’t play out the whole term at the same level. I like play for incentive, or in a long term contract include that if you do less you get paid less.

  10. The only thing that Puig is dead right on is that the Dodgers’ ownership, management and even coaching, to a lesser degree, is very satisfied with coming in second place! For me, a life-long Dodger fan and a mediocre player in the sandlot and in High School (where I peeked) it’s all about winning. I have never in my life pretended to be up to bat with the World Series on the line and was satisfied by making the last out and coming in second place! Our ownership seems to be. It sounds like it is. May I suggest that they consider platooning at the Manager position. You know, to have someone fresh for the playoffs!

  11. TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH YOUR COMMENTS, DANIEL –

    “Puig is beloved and has fully made his mark in Dodgers history. He remains the type of player that you root for. He remains the type of player that you pay to see. Although the marriage has come to an end, Yasiel’s contributions to the Dodgers should be appreciated.”

  12. “Now I have to do my part to show that they made a mistake,” Puig says. “I’ll show them what I could have done for them if they’d kept me.” So now you want to show us that? Where was that motivation when you were here? Idiot. Good thing he’s weak in the head it should be easy to frustrate him all you gotta do is get him to flail at offspeed pitches away, or hit into dp’s

  13. Before yesterday’s game against the Reds, at Camelback Ranch, several Dodgers players seek out and chat with Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer. Puig? Not one Dodgers seen talking with him, no players or coaches. Hmmm.

  14. Ok I’m looking at this like the stages of grief. There’s the denial and anger, and I’m writing it off to that. Puig isn’t the most mature guy, but he’s as exciting to watch as any player in the game. I hope he works through this and does well, I really do. Go Dodgers!

  15. I have always enjoyed Yasie and the potential thrills he brought to each game. He is gone now, so make the adjustment. Frankly, I would not respect him if he said he hopes the Blue beats the Reds every time out. He wants to get out there and prove to us the trade was wrong, and I would respect him for that. What player would not act the same way? Jackie Robinson retired rather than accept a trade to the Giants. Lets just enjoy the memories of his play – for good, and sometimes the bad – and go on from there. Go Blue!!!

  16. If Puig was disgruntled over reduced playing time last year he has nobody to blame but himself. Look at his horrific reverse splits last year and that says it all. As a RHB he couldn’t hit LHP to save his life!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Nobody else on the team hit LHP worth a darn either so he wasn’t alone. IMO, the platooning pretty much locks everyone into their existing numbers by virtue of never letting you try to improve against the very problem you have had in the past. That’s my concern about platooning, you never to get hit against your issue consistently so you never get better. Self fulfilling prophecy problem.

      1. Correct, as this team regressed again against LHP in 2018 after a big time improvement with them in 2017. And this weakness once again was exposed in the PS, although we got by with it in the regular season. and because of the platooning, when it mattered the most, the Dodgers were no match against the LHP of Boston in the WS.

  17. You may have been entertained by his childish antics, but let’s face it, he’s an a-hole. He behaved like an out of control obnoxious child and pissed off many of his teammates. He never learned any discipline and was irresponsible on the base paths and with his undisciplined throws. Now he tells us he never really worked hard with the Dodgers, but will now that it’s a contract year. Why would anyone give him more than a one year contract? He’s a fool! We should all be happy to be rid of him.

    1. when Puig hit a long single and moved Adrian Gonzalez to third then like a poor sport childish and embarrassment was yelling at Gonzalez because he didn’t run home to get him the RBI ever since I was like F pig

  18. “Puig was a fan favorite.” Thar’s the most important statement in the article. Lots of us fans think Dodger management failed us when they let him go. Now we’re left with a group of players devoid of almost any personality. Management has even drained almost all the fun-loving personality out of Kike Hernandez. That’s been sad to see.

    Puig was an excellent player. His quirky personality and unexpected antics brought joy to many. Guggenheim Baseball Management is into managing finances and the game with computers, and apparently want robots on the field. Thankfully there are players, like Puig, who will not be absorbed into the machine.

  19. As a life long Dodger fan, I went to games just to see him. His skills and his personality made the games fun and exciting. The Dodgers should not have let him go for no money. Same reaction as when they let Dee Gordon go. Why?? Hopefully they will see the error they made and sign him as a free agent next year.

  20. I love all these articles trying to convince Dodger fans to stop missing Puig all these comments on this page of people saying good writtens never liked him they don’t need convincing I for one will never change my mind about how I feel about this trade and how it went down things might have been different had he left of his own accord in free agency but that’s not what happened. PS everything he has said since being traded is all good business I put a no validity in his comments I am quite sure if the organization and certain players had worked together he could have been a lifelong Dodger but you learn business from the best Andrew Freeman and the Dodger organization and of course business is business

  21. Perhaps he got tired of getting his house broken into while he was at the ballpark.

  22. Puig says he’s tired of getting to the play offs and or world series but not taking it all. But not many teams and team mates get to say we got there. We did win. We made it there, you didn’t. we did play better than most of these teams. yes, that’s good enough. We have to do better and we know that. Players make mistakes, managers make mistakes and owners make mistakes. I blame many things on the managers and coaches. But I also blame players for not executing the way they’re suppose to, like a real millionaire. When you can’t get that needed base hit, that bunt down, the stolen base and or hit and run, or that last strike out Your costing the Fans so much, make us happy.

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