At times, it appears as though the Los Angeles Dodgers clubhouse is full of egos running amok, full of tension between players that has prevented the team from achieving greater success on the field.
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw has rarely been associated with such supposed dissension. Yet rumors floated Thursday that the face of the team—and perhaps all of baseball—wants embattled outfielder Yasiel Puig out of the Dodgers organization.
Andy Van Slyke, former major leaguer and father of current Dodgers outfielder Scott Van Slyke, told Frank Cusumano of CBS Sports Radio 920 in St. Louis (h/t CBS Sports' Dayn Perry) such may be the case:
This is just between you and I. When the best player—the highest paid player on the Los Angeles Dodgers—goes to the GM and—is asked what are [the needs of the Los Angeles Dodgers], this particular highest-paid player said, 'The first thing you need to do is get rid of Puig.' That's all you need to know.
Van Slyke didn't specify Kershaw by name—referring instead to “the highest-paid player," but the implication was clear.
Puig is one of the most athletic players in the majors, with the power of a linebacker and the arm of a quarterback. Dodgers legendary broadcaster Vin Scully aptly refers to him as a “wild horse,” a remarkable talent who sometimes suffers as a risk-taker. That all-out playing style ended up costing him nearly half of last season because of injury.
The Dodgers are coming off their third straight disappointing finish and are currently without a manager after the club parted ways with former skipper Don Mattingly in late October.
At face value, this all seems irregular for Kershaw, who's known to consistently speak the truth but always with optimism. Even when the Dodgers’ clubhouse dysfunction reached a public level in 2014, Kershaw never threw his teammates under the bus.
Perhaps the former MVP does want Puig gone, but it’ll be up to team president Andrew Friedman and the rest of the Los Angeles front office to make a decision.
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