Yasiel Puig expects to be sent to minors by Dodgers

Good for both Puig and Rosenthal for being understanding and professional about the flap, but it seems like something else must be going on with Puig and the Dodgers. He was a force of nature that demanded you get out of the way or face the consequences. He threw 17 pitches in one inning, allowing one hit. He earned a call-up from AA ball on June 3 and proceeded to bat.319 while blasting 19 home runs and posting a almost five-win improvement over replacement players in just 104 games. Puig was a revelation.

Due roughly $28 million through the end of 2017-not to mention the more than $300 million he’s already made over the course of his 22-year career-it’s easy to understand why he’d be at peace with whatever decision the team makes.

General manager Farhan Zaidi said Tuesday that Puig is expected to be assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City and report on time. The Dodgers were trying to trade Puig before the non-waiver trading deadline Monday but couldn’t find a deal. He entered the baseball field like a solar flare every game.

To many, he was everything that was “wrong” with the game. Apparently, the idea was since they knew he was not going to go with them to Colorado, why would we bother having him show up to the stadium anyway. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. I get it Puig isn’t the only ball player to have a questionable off the field lifestyle, (Doc Gooden and Daryl Strawberry substance abuse) but these were obvious signs of immaturity that the Dodgers chose to shake off cause he was playing at such at a high level. With Puig now working through another hamstring issue in the past two seasons, the Dodgers have not seen the production that would match the his potential.

When Yasiel Puig burst onto the scene in 2013 the Dodgers thought they thought they found “Lightning in a Bottle” as the youngster had a great stretch as he was in consideration for rookie of the year. He’s also brought insubordination, reckless off the field actions, and just head scratching plays on the baseball diamond.

With the deadline day trade for outfielder Josh Reddick, the Dodgers felt they could part ways, at least for the time being, with Yasiel Puig. He hit two home runs in his second game, and he had 27 hits in his first 15 games. It’s up to any front office now that would take a flyer on Yasiel Puig. Trades like these are rare, but the Dodgers were able to make one previous year when they acquired Chase Utley from the Philadelphia Phillies. Puig complied, and now he has 72 hours to report to the minors. Are they willing to take on the monetary risk? He joined ESPN Chicago in July 2010 and covered the Chicago White Sox for ESPNChicago.com and ESPN Radio 1000 through the 2015 season.

Another possibility holds that the Dodgers can place Puig on waivers and trade him to a claiming team, or to any team if he goes unclaimed. Maybe that’s in a few weeks, or maybe Puig has to make the team at Spring Training next year. He didn’t travel with the team and at this point, there is so much bad blood between the player and the organization that it’s hard to believe they will ever reconcile.