The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tribe should be thinking long term with Y. Puig
The only thing left for Yasiel Puig to do is rip off his sleeves and flex for the camera while batting.
The only thing left for Yasiel Puig to do is rip off his sleeves and flex for the camera while batting.
At this rate, no one should be surprised if that actually happens.
Puig is a character, and the Indians haven’t had many characters since the good ole’ days of the 1990s.
Francisco Lindor lights up Progressive Field with his smile but he’s not a character. Puig is that, but a lot more. He’s brought a boatload of talent to the Indians’ lineup with his powerful swing and throwing arm in right field.
As Manager Tito Francona’s new clean-up hitter, Puig has also put a seasonlong concern to bed. Puig is the main man in the middle of the order. With Puig, though, it’s not just the talent. He’s quirky in a fun way and charismatic. Since being acquired by Cleveland in a July trade, Puig has twirled his bat just before a pitch was delivered.
It was odd but hugely entertaining. He waved to whoever and blew a kiss recently while running the base paths. He wiggles his behind in the batters box. He colors his hair red — talk about team spirit!
He routinely licks his bat. He was known for the “tongue wag” while with the Dodgers.
Puig is also a hot-head, and isn’t afraid to brawl. He’s been in the middle of two bench-clearing brawls this season. Puig is confident and cocky. He also reportedly wore out his welcome in Los Angeles and with the Reds, the team that traded Puig to the Indians.
There’s also this: In spring training before this season, Puig said in an ESPN interview, “I never worked hard. Maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t have my better years . ... The last couple years, I didn’t work hard because I still have a contract to go. Now I think I’ll work hard more than any year in my life.”
Those aren’t the greatest comments for a professional athlete, but at least he was honest. Puig is a free agent after this season, so when the trade was made, it was believed the Indians were getting a two-month rental player. That still might be the case, but maybe not.
Hopefully, Indians management is exploring signing Puig to a deal beyond this season. He’s 28, and perhaps he’s learned from his early years in L.A., where he came up as a phenom and hit .319 with 19 home runs in 104 games in 2013.
Since then, he’s been demoted to minors, traded twice, but maybe (as he approaches age 30) Puig is a changed person. Or maybe he’s just wired differently than most players.
Still, in the short time he’s been an Indians player, Puig has helped keep the team’s secondhalf charge in go-mode. He’s getting on base, showing power from the clean-up spot, playing solid defense and showing off his powerful arm in right field.
Between the Reds and Indians in 111 games this season, he has 23 homers, 67 RBI with a .263 batting average. More important, it feels as if the Indians’ finally have a legitimate clean-up hitter.
If exploring ways to keep Puig in Cleveland beyond September or October hasn’t begun in the team’s management offices, it should begin, and begin right now.
Allowing a player the caliber of Puig to simply walk in the offseason — if that’s the Indians’ choice — would be a mistake.