Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Well... This is a Problem... Puig is a Problem... Say it Ain't So... Crap!


Oh, Boy!  I'm hoping that this is all hyperbole.

Via Jeff Passan ay Yahoo Sports, "Book: Disdain for Yasiel Puig by Dodgers teammates no longer a secret," he recounts several transgressions of the enigmatic Yasiel Puig, and it ain't pretty.  In fact, it's horrible... And disheartening... And makes me want to take back anything I've written that defends him.

Based mostly on Molly Knight's upcoming book "The Best Team Money Can Buy," Passan passes along several stories that should have Dodger fans worried. 
While some issues, like his habitual tardiness for games, have abated this year, according to sources, Puig's work ethic in batting practice and the weight room continue to bother some teammates. Much of the hostility stems from a general sense of entitlement shown by the 24-year-old. During spring training this year, as Knight writes and multiple sources confirmed to Yahoo Sports, Puig argued with teammates over who should be allowed on a plane ride that typically includes wives and girlfriends. The subject of someone from Puig's entourage joining the traveling crew came up, and sources told Yahoo Sports that Puig argued with pitcher Zack Greinke and nearly came to blows with infielder Justin Turner over the matter.

Greinke, the National League ERA leader and one of the game's best pitchers, was at the center of another memorable Puig moment related in Knight's book. In 2014, during the Dodgers' annual trip to Chicago, the team bus stopped downtown to allow rookies undergoing hazing to walk into a pizza place and emerge with food for the veterans. Some Dodgers players, not wanting to wait, skipped off the bus. When the bus was ready to leave, Puig was outside, looking for his luggage inside of the bay underneath the bus. After Puig ignored multiple requests to close the luggage bay, Greinke hopped off the bus, grabbed the suitcase in front of Puig and chucked it onto Michigan Avenue. Puig stepped toward Greinke and was restrained by reliever J.P. Howell.
You gotta check out the rest of it.  There are a couple more interesting anecdotes and stories that'll make you squirm.

On a side note, now I'm wondering if there are any juicy tidbits about the "owner who shall not be named" in her book.  There's gotta be some great dirt on that wonderful family.

BTW, Knight's book comes out on July 14th.  The photo at the very top via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.

* Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes *
* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

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