Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes that there is “industry-wide speculation” the Dodgers will trade Yasiel Puig this offseason.
Puig has, for the most part, stayed out of the headlines and has been pretty darn productive over the past two seasons, so this might come as a bit of a surprise. Hernandez reports, however, that Puig is “disgruntled” over being increasingly platooned and, one year away from free agency, likely wants to show potential suitors that he’s not a platoon player.
Which, however understandable, is not going to make him many friends among his teammates, most of whom have been platooned, often aggressively, by manager Dave Roberts. That’s part of how the Dodgers role these days given their depth and given how many players they have who can man multiple positions. For what it’s worth, Puig hit far, far better against righties than lefties in 2018, with an OPS of .921 against the former and .628 against the latter.
Puig has been on the trading block many times over the years, but the Dodgers haven’t pulled the trigger. If what Hernandez says is true, that could very well change this offseason.