Yasiel Puig is losing his way in baseball due to his bad attitude

November 16, 2020

Yasiel Puig is a baseball player who had the attributes to become a baseball superstar and whose light is fading due to his poor judgment, as expressed by Marino Martínez in a special report in the Nuevo Herald.

When the Cienfuegos native began his Major League career at age 22 in 2013 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he demonstrated the talent to become a superstar in the MLB.

That season he finished with a .319 average, with 19 home runs, 42 RBIs, 11 stolen bases and .391 on-base percentage in 104 games to finish second in the voting for the National League Rookie of the Year award.

His second campaign was noteworthy in the first half and earned him a selection to the All-Star Game. But starting in the second half of 2014, disciplinary problems affected his performance and this led to him being sent to the Minor Leagues with the idea of bringing him down to earth from the clouds where he was soaring.

Upon returning to the Dodgers his attitude was positive, but at no moment has he reached the requirements to be called a Major League superstar, he only qualifies as a good player.

In the last season he played in the Major Leagues in 2019, Puig had a good performance in 149 games between Cincinnati and Cleveland, connecting 24 home runs with an offensive average of .267, with his best statistics in RBIs with 84 and in stolen bases with 19.

With these good results, money and COVID-19 were the reasons that led to the Caribbean player remaining unsigned in 2020.

According to sources close to him, Puig wanted a multiyear contract with many millions, rejecting two offers and later in September 2019 declined another from the Miami Marlins, the city where thousands of Cuban fans reside.

Now, when the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Professional League were seeking his services, it became known that due to salary disagreement this team canceled the possible contract.

Accepting the opportunity to play with Licey in the Dominican Republic was beneficial for Puig, as having a good performance with this team would have represented a step forward in his career. At this moment, to make his situation worse, to his refusal to play for little money is added an allegation of alleged sexual assault.

If he gets clear of the law, for Puig to be able to return to the Major Leagues he will have to accept a one-year deal with a salary below five million.

That is to say, to succeed in professional baseball it is not only necessary to have great technical skills and sports merits, but it is also necessary to maintain work ethic.

Yasiel has fallen behind the qualitative level of some active baseball players such as José Abreu, Jorge Soler, Yasmani Grandal, Aroldis Chapman, José "Candelita" Iglesias, Yoan Moncada, Randy Arozarena, Yuli Gurriel and his brother Lourdes.