Atlanta Braves close to adding outfield depth by signing Yasiel Puig
By Fred Owens
The Atlanta Braves added experienced outfield depth this afternoon by signing a Wild Horse.
According to Mark Feinsand (Twitter link), the Braves agreed a deal with former Dodger Yasiel Puig, pending a physical. The news brought a wide range of reactions from Braves fans on Twitter, but with Nick Markakis choosing to opt-out and Freddie Freeman’s return delayed, adding depth always looked possible.
Rumors flying around that Puig’s potential signing was a knee-jerk reaction to Cristian Pache’s sore ankle make no sense. Pache. We should know by now the Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t do knee-jerk reaction signings, and if they were looking for a Pache-type, it wouldn’t be Puig. This potential acquisition is an attempt to provide more game-ready offense for the sprint to October.
The Athletic’s David O’Brien confirmed via Tweet that the Braves looked at a list of potential players to add Major League ready offense. If he passes the physical, these days that isn’t a sure thing for anyone, Puig provides that and a plus-plus arm from the outfield.
A lot of Atlanta fans developed their opinion of Puig when he first arrived with the Dodgers, and there was a fan vote to determine whether MLB should add him to the NL All-Star team. He lost that vote, and like many rookies, found the next couple of years harder than the first one.
Puig had his troubles with then Dodger Manager Don Mattingly, and faced off the field issues as well; however, he’s put those issues behind him. The Dodgers traded him to Cincinnati after the 2018 season, as part of a deal to dump Matt Kemp’s salary (again).
He liked playing in Cincinnati, and the team liked having him, but when they saw the chance of getting Trevor Bauer, the Reds shipped him to the Indians. He played well for the Tribe as well, but over the winter drew only mild interest from teams and remained unsigned when spring training began.
Assuming he passes his physical, what does Puig bring to the Atlanta Braves?