Dave Roberts, the new manager of the Dodgers, has made his first major move -- and it’s a bold one. Roberts is ignoring the wishes of his ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who allegedly asked for outfielder Yasiel Puig to be traded, and gave Puig a “clean slate” to start 2016.
Roberts offered Puig a clean slate and told Puig to be himself. Good times.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) January 30, 2016
Puig, an immensely talented but mercurial player, had a down year in 2015 because of nagging injuries. He slashed .255/.322/.436 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI, and was a non-factor in Los Angeles’ NLDS loss to the Mets. Kershaw, on the other hand, went 16-7 with a sparkling 2.13 ERA and 301 strikeouts. It’s a bold move by Roberts to back Puig out of the gate, but it bodes well for his baseball mind.
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Kershaw is locked in through 2020 and will make at least $34 million each season, so whether he’s happy or not he’s unlikely to be going anywhere. At the same time, the Dodgers are in an improving division, where the Diamondbacks poached their No. 2 starter, Zack Greinke, and the Giants added two fireballing right-handers Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. Puig will be an essential element to the Dodgers if they intend to win the division again, and Roberts being in his corner could put him at ease.
"For me, it's more of 'let's wipe the slate clean and let's start anew,'" Roberts said (via CBS Sports). "There's the same core of players, but there's a completely different coaching staff. And we just want him to be himself. So let's start fresh."
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Puig has also tried to improve his relationship with the team, albeit in his rough, Puig way. When GM Andrew Friedman asked that Puig lose weight, he did, reluctantly.
"For me, I don't see the correlation between weight and how well one plays baseball, or how that affects one or the other. However, of course, I'm taking him up on that suggestion. Everyone else has encouraged me to do the same. But really, I don't see much correlation,” Puig said.
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