© Kareem Elgazzar | 2019 Dec 23
It’s starting to seem like the Yasiel Puig to the Giants rumors were reignited this week just for the hell of it.
A tweet by baseball reporter Francys Romero, who focuses on the Cuban community, that said the Giants were “very close” to a deal with their former Dodgers enemy last weekend. This followed reports months ago that the Giants were considering bringing in Puig, whose time in Los Angeles overlapped with both Farhan Zaidi and Gabe Kapler.
Kapler, now the Giants manager, threw cold water on the report when he joined KNBR on Monday, pointing out that while Romero reported it, it should be telling that the beat writers around the club had not run with it.
Broadcaster Duane Kuiper was firmer in his denouncement, arguing on “Murph & Mac” Tuesday morning that the potential signing doesn’t make any sense.
“I don’t think that’s even remotely possible,” Kuiper said. “I don’t. I think somebody threw it out there. I mean if you’re not going to sign (Kevin) Pillar, why would you sign Puig? I mean you’re taking at bats away from guys you’re trying to develop. I mean that doesn’t make any sense.”
If the Giants indeed had been close on a deal, they would have had to have been close last month, as MLB and the players’ union agreed on a transaction freeze during the coronavirus pandemic. The Giants had spent all offseason seeking a power-hitting corner outfielder and ended up reuniting with Hunter Pence. They parted ways with Pillar citing more opportunities for their younger outfielders, so an agreement with Puig would have been curious.
“If you want to use the excuse that (the league) is going to open up and every game you’re going to have to use a DH well then you have an excuse, ‘We’ll sign Puig, we’ll just DH him.’ But to me the whole thing is nonsense.
“If you are going to play him in right field, (Mike) Yastrzemski had better numbers against lefties than righties. Yastrzemski to me is a guy you don’t think about platooning. If you have Puig, what are you going to do with Hunter Pence? Right handed hitter, has some power, dynamic when he takes the field. You’ve got that in Hunter Pence.”
Listen to the full interview below.