Atlanta Braves potential offseason deals : Free agent outfielders
By Fred Owens
Yasiel Puig – R/R – plays at 29
The very mention of his name makes many fans break into a rant. Those fans remember the 22-year old defector man, acting like a child, frustrating his manager and teammates and making bad headlines every other week
They don’t recall that he made four attempts to defect, spent time in a Cuban jail for trying, got held hostage by the people who extracted him from Cuba, saw people shot during the escape, then teceived death threats and demands for more money for getting him out.
The player everyone hated is long gone. Today’s Yasiel Puig is a proud American Citizen and grateful for the chance. He runs a charity for disadvantaged children and is active in his communities.
Today was one of the best days of my life. I want to thank so many people, starting with all of my new friends at @campsimcha. Thank you for welcoming me and giving me your smiles today. You are my inspiration and when I do good things on the field I will do it for you. pic.twitter.com/uSSrYX2ibW
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) August 20, 2019
I say all that to eliminate the negative talk. Not liking what he did six years ago is logical, I didn’t like it either, but that was six years ago. There are reasons for and against signing him, but none of them have anything to do with a part of the man that no longer exists.
Puig is no superstar, but he is a fine ballplayer. Over the last three years, he’s remarkably consistent at the plate. Overall he batted .265/.334/.478/.811, and did I mention consistent?
| Year | G | R | H | 2B | HR | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | wRC+ |
| 2017 | 152 | 72 | 131 | 24 | 28 | 64 | 100 | .263 | .346 | .487 | .833 | 119 | 117 |
| 2018 | 125 | 60 | 108 | 21 | 23 | 36 | 87 | .267 | .327 | .494 | .820 | 120 | 123 |
| 2019 | 149 | 76 | 148 | 30 | 24 | 44 | 133 | .267 | .327 | .458 | .785 | 100 | 101 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 10/25/2019
He always has a K-rate around 20%, and a walk rate around 8%, hits around 24 homers, steals around 15 bases, and been worth 7.8 rWAR, 5.9 fWAR, 6.5 WARP.
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Defensively he’s well above average, with a cannon for an arm that’s extremely accurate.
Since 2016 among right fielders with 3500 or more innings, he’s:
- Second in DRS with 29 behind Mookie Betts with 98
- Third in outfield assists with 28, behind Calhoun and Betts with 34
He will run wild on the bases and make an out, or overshoot his cutoff man. UZR doesn’t like his defense, but it’s the only one. BaseballProspectus’ FRAA shows him with a total of 9.3 over the last three years.
Dickerson is a better defender, and has a better slash line, but Puig hits more homers, is younger, and has had fewer injury issues.
Puig made $9.5M this year and should get something like three at $36M fitting both the Atlanta Braves pocketbook and the skills they require.