It appears the Los Angeles Dodgers might end up trading Yasiel Puig before the deadline arrives — for Cole Hamels?
There was a time when Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was an untouchable asset that the franchise wouldn’t entertain the idea of trading. It seems things have changed since then, as tensions in the clubhouse have led to some believing the Dodgers might be open to trading the spark-plugged Puig before the trade deadline passes later this month.
Any notion of trading Puig this time last summer was insane, but he’s always been a bit of a controversial figure and there are reports of him wearing out his welcome in the clubhouse. This doesn’t mean Puig is going to for sure be traded, but it does mean there’s more of a chance he gets moved now than ever.
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, one possible trade that could happen is the Dodgers sending Puig to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Cole Hamels.
This isn’t a report on a rumor, rather it’s Cafardo thinking aloud about something that the more you consider it the more it actually makes a lot of sense.
Look no further than last year for a team trading away an All-Star outfielder for a pitching rental to make a run at the World Series. You don’t even need to look outside of California for this example, as the Oakland A’s traded Home Run Derby champ Yeonis Cespedes to the Boston Red Sox for Jon Lester.
Oakland didn’t even make it out of the Wild Card round, losing to the eventual World Series runner-ups in the Kansas City Royals.
The Dodgers will want a different outcome, but trading Puig for Hamels isn’t that insane of an idea — especially if the outfielder has made enemies in the front office.
A major difference in the two scenarios is that Cespedes had just one year left on his deal after getting moved to Boston where Puig is under club control through the 2018 season. Puig isn’t an unrestricted free agent until 2019 and has over $25 million left on his current deal.
That would be a reason why this trade either does or doesn’t happen, all dependent on whether the Phillies want Puig that long (which they probably would) and whether or not the Dodgers really want to trade him.
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