One Player Who Can Make This Team Really Great

July 28, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) reacts after he hits a walk off solo home run in the eleventh inning to win the game 1-0 against the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The thing is, we don’t have to trade for this player.  He is already on the team, and while the Dodgers could go on to win if he plays poorly, they could easily win it all if he lives up to his potential.  We all know who it is.  “The Wild Horse” has as much talent as anyone I have ever seen play the game.  He has shown plenty of flashes.  His potential is so tantalizing.  In his rookie season he carried the team for nearly two months, but last year he was finally demoted to the minors for failure to take his talent seriously and conduct detrimental to the team.   To put it in terms we all understand, Yasiel was (is) a “knucklehead.”

Yasiel is now 26 years old and says he is more mature (of course, he said that the last two years as well) and is allegedly a changed man.  He has allegedly changed his diet, hired a personal chef and has worked out diligently in the off season.  He accepts the blame for the conduct and actions that led to his demotion and wants to be a good teammate! But, has he changed his “mind?”  That’s where it all starts.  I, for one will be rooting for the manchild.  In his four years in the league, if he played 162 games, his stat line would look like this:

  • 21 HR
  • 72 RBI
  • .287 BA
  • .361 OB%
  • .833 OPS

Frankly, I would be happy with that and so would the team, but he is capable of so much more that it is maddening.  This is a guy that should be in the running for MVP. This is a guy who should put up Mike Trout-esque numbers.  This is a guy who can take the Dodgers to the promised land.  Imagine for a minute if he could realize his potential and put up those MVP-type numbers.  WOW!  What a difference that would make.  I would love to see this lineup:

  1. Forsythe  2B
  2. Puig  RF
  3. Seager  SS
  4. Grandal  C (this is where you will think I am crazy, but I’ll talk about that later)
  5. Turner  3B
  6. Gonzalez  1B
  7. Pederson  CF
  8. Toles/SVS/Ethier  LF

An MVP-Type year by Puig would warrant him hitting #2, followed by Superstar Corey Seager at the #3 spot.  Here’s where I am going to go against the grain:  I would bat Yasmani Grandal cleanup. Before you have me committed, think about these things:

  • Yasmani is healthy for the first time in a long time.  He is not rehabbing from surgery.  Instead he is working on his conditioning and is allegedly in the best shape of his life.
  • Yasmani is entering his 28th year and with maturity comes experience and wisdom.  I think he will be a better hitter in 2017 – he will hit more HR, take more walks and have a higher BA.
  • He’s a switch-hitter and claims he has more power RH, but his surgery may have kept his power numbers down from the Right Side.  I look for him to hit 35+ HR this season.  Of course, health is the main factor.
  • If you sandwich him between Seager and Turner, he is going to see more and better pitches.  That in itself, should help his statline.
  • His career OB% is .348 and that might go up 30+ points if he hit between Seager and Turner.  Let’s face it:  A-Gon is a very good player, but he is a #6 hitter and would be a damn good one for us.  He is in decline, but I could see him turning back the clock for another year.  If not, young Cody Bellinger is knocking at the door.  He is cut from the same cloth as Corey Seager – he just figures it out, game-by-game, at-bat-by-at-bat and pitch-by-pitch.  He’ll be ready by July.

I could make an argument that Joc Pederson should hit cleanup as well… and maybe he will someday, but right now Yasmani Grandal is my choice.  BTW, I haven’t even mentioned Trayce Thompson.

Back to Yasiel Puig:

2017 could be Yasiel’s best year with the Dodgers… or it could be his last!

By the way, that is Russel Martin walking onto the field at Vero Beach as a rookie.  He was one of my favorite players and that picture, signed by him, hangs in my office.

This article has 31 Comments

  1. Maybe becoming a father will be a positive influence for Puig. I think we all want him to succeed and reach his potential but some have given up on him ever doing that.

  2. Puig has a kid? Is he living with the mother?

    Yes, having a second super-star in the lineup would be a game changer. If he truly, “changed his diet, hired a personal chef and has worked out diligently in the off season”, I can see a big year for Yasiel. And with that, I can see “LA Dodgers 2017 World Champions”.

  3. I’m afraid that I have no confidence that Puig will ever be anything but a big ball of potential. He is a frail reed upon which to base your hopes for a great season. His last 2 seasons have netted a total of 2.5 WAR. I haven’t seen anything that would make me believe that he will do anything differently this year.

    Grandal won’t hit 40 HR this year. He doesn’t make regular enough contact and he doesn’t have power from the right side. He hit 2 of his 27 HR last year from the right side. The past 3 years he hit .225, .234 and .228. He wasn’t rehabbing from an injury mid season last year and still didn’t hit for average. I would prefer that the Dodgers’ cleanup hitter hit better than .228, even if he does hit 30 HR. He struck out 116 times in 457 plate appearances last year which is 26% of the time. Lifetime K % is 23% so it is not getting better. (Looking at other Dodgers’ K %, Joc Pederson was at 27%, Adrian Gonzalez 18%, Puig 20%, Seager 19%, Turner 17%.)

    Given Grandal’s poor BA and high K%, I wouldn’t bat him 4th. My lineup might look like this:
    Forsyth
    Puig
    Seager
    Turner
    Gonzalez
    Pederson
    Grandal
    LF

  4. I wish this were the Year of the Horse, not the Year of the Rooster. I’m glad Puig is not Asian. Mark’s theme has been true ever since Puig arrived on the scene. If he had performed like his stats project, we would probably have been champions by now. The other teams sort of chuckle about 66, knowing that he has multiple weaknesses at the plate and in the clubhouse. I don’t think he strikes fear in anyone. That would stop if he put up the projected numbers, but he hasn’t yet. I, too, am expecting mediocrity from him. Until he proves different. How is it that Cespedes has exceeded all expectations and Puig has fallen short? Cespedes has become a better, more consistent hitter, with power, who enjoys and excels in the spotlight. Puig has gone the other way. There is no reason, except for the knuckleheadeness, that Puig can’t be as good as Cespedes.

  5. No, on Romo. Sounds like giant sabotage. Everyone knows his game. He was good on a staff where he would pitch to one guy. He’s not worth whatever he wants. Not even if he just wants one year.

  6. Rick I’m with you on Puig, in fact he wouldn’t still be with us in my world.
    He’s had plenty of opportunities to show us what he can do, and when the lights are at there brightest in the post season, that’s when he melts.
    If we could manage a deal to get Braun for him, as was discussed before, then that would really be a huge upgrade, and if we could re sign Blanton, then we would have a great chance.

    2B Forsythe
    SS Seagar
    3B Turner
    LF Braun
    1B Gonzo
    C Grandal
    RF Ethier/Toles
    CF Pederson

    Bench

    Ethier/Toles
    SVS
    KiKi
    Barnes
    Ruf?
    Thompson

    That looks very strong to me.

    Sorry about Puig, but I just can’t see what could have happened in the few months since last season finished and ST starting, that is gonna make the difference.

  7. I have said since the end of his first season that the Dodgers should trade him, so I do not have a lot of confidence in Puig. However, I am rooting for Puig. Every once in a thousand years a knucklehead turns it around. Maybe this will be the year, but I am not counting on it. Yet, I am receptive to it.

    I am a glass half full guy – some are glass half empty guys and and others done even see the glass. Players seldom do the same thing year after year – they usually get better or they get worse. When it happens two or three years in a row, it’s called a “Decline.” There is hope that Puig can pull it all together, but I am not predicting that.

    I am predicting that Grandal will get better. The people who disagree with that are the same ones who bet he would never 25 HR either. Yasmani Grandal is one of the best catchers in baseball and is getting better. Watch and see…

    1. I honestly believe this is going to be an excellent year for Puig. I noticed a less anxious Puig when he came back up from the minors last year. Give me the first set of numbers you posted and his defense in RF every game and that is a bargain. He’s been at Dodger Stadium working on his swing. If he is serious about preparation mentally and physically I see good things for him this season. An outfield of Joc, Puig, and Toles would cover a lot of ground with excellent arms. Every little mistake Puig makes doesn’t need to be magnified like it is the end of the world. Hell, Reddick missed more cut-off men that Puig did all season during Josh’s brief stint in LA. He also got picked off 3 freekin times during that period and no one said a thing. I also like him batting second behind Toles if he wins the job in LF and behind Forsythe if Ethier wins the job. As for Grandal in the cleanup spot. No Thank You. I’d hit him 7th or 8th depending on Joc’s progress and the makeup of the rest of the starting lineup.

      Toles
      Puig
      Seager
      Turner
      Gonzo
      Forsythe
      Joc
      Grandal

      or

      Forsythe
      Puig
      Seager
      Turner
      Gonzo
      Ethier
      Grandal
      Joc

      1. To me, it looked like Josh Reddick chocked big time when he came to the Dodgers. He’s no superstar but he was/is a nice platoon player who has good D and good baserunning. In fact, I was listening to MLB Radia a few weeks ago and they were arguing who was the best RF- Heyward or Reddick. Reddick could not hit, run or catch for the Dodgers last year. He was almost a disaster.

        1. I’m sure it can be tough to uproot in the middle of the season and join another locker room especially when hometown fans are calling for Puig so I certainly understand that Reddick is a better player than what we saw, but if Puig had been picked off base 3 times from August 1st through the NLCS we wouldn’t have heard the end of it.

          1. Hawkeye, as I recall, Reddick was criticized by Dodger fans for simply breathing. Being picked off just didn’t register with all of the other hostilities directed towards him. And I do agree it was deserving. If Ethier had been able to come back from the broken leg as was first diagnosed (sometime before deadline), Josh would not have been Dodger. LAD needed a LH OF, and a contending team was not going to rely on a player who started the season in A ball with 42 PA at the MLB level, no matter how good Toles looked at the trade deadline. Of course they could have traded for Jay Bruce, but he was just as bad for the Mets, more expensive, and now the Mets cannot move him.

            Yes, LA was less than pathetic against LHP, and could have used a RH bat, but FAZ realized that the Cubs,Nats, Mets, Cards, Bucs, were all RH dominant (as is most MLB teams other than LAD and Chisox), and needed a LH bat for the playoffs. The Giants have two known LH starters out of five, and would have thrown another lefty if needed, but they were the only NL contender who could. So they included Reddick in the trade. He was not forced on LA. It just did not work out.

      2. Hawkeye

        I like your line up, if Puig can come around.

        I see no need to pencil in Logan as the lead off hitter, if Toles can prove he can produce, in the lead off position.

        And you didn’t do that.

        The only other thing I would change, is putting Joc hitting eighth, instead of Grandal.

        1. It’s time for Joc to progress that’s really the only reason I put him ahead of Grandal. I’m perfectly content with either hitting 7th or 8th. You might be right though. Since Joc hasn’t proven to be a base stealing threat at the big league level it would be just fine batting him 8th. He’s less likely to get forced out on a sacrifice bunt than Grandal.

  8. Here why I would like to try Yasmani at 4th:

    Last year he hit .333 as a #4 hitter with a .400 OB% and a 1.178 OPS. Now, it was a small sampling… that I admit.

    He also OPS’ed .971 RISP, Many of his OPS stats with runners on are over 1.000.

    Now, maybe it’s just luck… or maybe he’s guy who might be really dangerous in the middle of an order. He certainly has the power and OB% to do it. I’m sure Roberts knows all this too…

  9. Actually, I am OK with ROMO – When The Dodgers signed Blanton last year, you would have thought Friedman killed someone… and that worked out fine. Romo should be a solid set-up guy – he’s not unlike Blanton. Maybe Blanton is still in play…

      1. You know, I have a sneaking feeling that Baez is going to have a special season next year. Just a no-reason opinion.

        1. He better be special to put up with the way he stops games. I’m certainly no advocate of a pitch clock but he’s a walking advertisement for proponents. He doesn’t trust his stuff. Get on the rubber, stay on the rubber and don’t shake off the catcher would be my advice to him. He seems mentally weak to me. He’s also kind of a dillhole to the kids and fans who show up early to BP.

  10. Welcome back Mark – you were missed. Your writing is not just a just a reprint of the mlb roumors page..always another perspective. Cheers

  11. Well, the Romo deal is not done. So, we have to wait and see what happens…

    Probably, but maybe not!

    1. I could see them dragging this out for 10 days. Once pitchers and catchers report they can put Yimi on the 60-day DL.

  12. I actually would have loved Santiago Casilla. I felt being our 8th inning guy on a 1 year deal would allow him to find what he lost; his stuff is filthy.

    I don’t think Romo’s stuff is as filthy, but he’s a better pitcher. Not the guy I would trust the most, but probably equal to Blanton?

  13. Have to say that my first feeling is one of disappointment with the proposed Romo signing. However, I had even more doubts when I’d heard we’d signed Joey Pancakes this time last year!
    Mark, you have been right more often than not, so I’ll trust your judgement.
    To be honest, i would love us to sign Blanton as well, but his demands of a 2 year contract might be the sticking point. To be fair to Romo, he’s happy to take a year even though he could probably secure a longer deal elsewhere, because he wants to win again. I like that attitude.

    As for Baez,!im afraid I just don’t see it.
    I would feel much happier to have Romo or Blanton passing the ball to Kenley.

  14. I was surprised to read this about Puig from Mark. He has always been a “knucklehead”. However it does not appear that Mike Trout is coming to the Dodgers, so as Dodger fans we pull for whatever RH bat we can conjure up. As some have stated, I too would rather have Braun in the lineup, but it doesn’t appear that he is coming to LA either. So for the sake of sanity over a 162 game season, I choose to agree with Mark that a 2013/2014 version of Yasiel Puig could be the missing link from a Division Champion to a NL Champion to a WS Champion. What other RH bat can provide as much potential, and what other OF can provide better defense in RF? I like Trayce Thompson, but I do not see him as much more than a clone of SVS. He will be a good #4 OF. Every team needs one, and TT is good for that role, but he will not go off as good as Puig CAN. There was no way the Dodgers were going to pay north of $125M to get Cespedes. IMO, that was not and should not have been a consideration. So until LAD gets that impact power RH bat, all Dodger fans can do is hope that Puig finds the light and turns it on. Of course there is the position that others have opined that FAZ doesn’t know what to do and should have already had the RH bat. What’s wrong with those guys? They should have been able to get Goldschmidt for Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana, and Yaisel Sierra…okay maybe Mitch Hansen too. The fact is that LAD does not have a RH bat in the pipeline, and one is not going to magically appear without giving up the farm. So I choose to back #66.

    With respect to Romo, I have no strong feelings one way or the other. I was against Blanton, and I was wrong. That does not impact how I feel about Romo. I just do not know what to expect. I do not think he is the best setup RP the Dodgers have. I think Liberatore and/or Dayton will fill that role. If, as some have suggested, that Romo’s role is more of a situational pitcher, okay. Wasn’t that what JP was for LA the last 4 years? Every team needs one of those too. The reliever that intrigues me the most is Brandon Morrow. He was very good for the Pads at the end of last year, and he was thought enough by at least one team that he was drafted ahead of Clayton. So to me Sergio Romo, meh. But for me, the surprise story of ST might just be Brandon Morrow.

Comments are closed.