A day after commenting in the negative when asked if he was distracted or worried about the alleged death threats facing Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig after a magazine article detailing his escape from Cuba surfaced, manager Don Mattingly is changing his tune.
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According to reports, Puig owes 20 percent of all his baseball earnings to a Miami businessman and a connected criminal who played a role in his harrowing journey from Cuba to the United States.
"If you care about Yasiel, you worry about it," Mattingly said. "There's some serious stuff that he has to deal with. I think you have to worry about it if you care about him as a person. You worry about what he's going through."
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Mattingly also insinuated he wasn't aware of any of this drama when he took over the Dodgers' clubhouse, and couldn't say whether L.A. ownership knew about Puig's unseemly connections.
"If it was news to anyone above me, I don't know that, but it was definitely news to me," Mattingly said. "I think it was news to anybody in our clubhouse. I know a lot of people check in on Yasiel that know a lot more than I do. I'm the manager of the baseball team. I'm not running the whole organization. I'm not the president or ownership."
Puig, who has been controversial since he entered the league for other issues that seem PG-rated compared to this mess, has clammed up on the topic. He released a prepared statement that read, "I'm represented on this matter, and I'm only focused on being a productive teammate and helping the Dodgers win games."
After a win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night, Puig did address the matter very briefly.
"I feel normal," Puig said. "I'm focusing on baseball and I'm giving my best for my team so things go well on the field with the preparation I've had, so those things that are happening don't torment me." He was 1-for-4 in the game with a strikeout, and is hitting .250 with one home run and five RBIs on the year.
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