DODGERS The ♥PUIG♥ Thread

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by irish, Feb 27, 2013.

  1. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    nah
    let's dream large
    the next clemente
     
  2. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    Nice gapper today
     
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  3. Blue Thunder

    Blue Thunder DSP Regular

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    Game tying RBI double!
     
  4. CapnTreee

    CapnTreee Guest

    and that is dreaming large... .300 lifetime avg and a cannon for an arm...

    I would love to see that kind of arm in the field. There is nothing sweeter than watching a guy get a hit to RF and then get rifle thrown out at 1st.

    Chicken soup for the baseball soul...
     
  5. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    ellis valentine had a hose as well...

     
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  6. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    dbb on puig...

    Mattingly said that outfielder Yasiel Puig, the $42 million Cuban signing who was supposed to just get his feet wet this spring, "is fun to watch." Managers tend to feel that way when a player is hitting .389, as Puig is in his first professional Spring Training.​

    With Carl Crawford and his injured elbow on the shelf for a week, and Matt Kemp also being eased back into action after shoulder surgery, the 22-year-old Puig will continue to get playing time while management looks for more signs of last year's immaturity, or signs that Puig is suddenly growing up fast as a ballplayer.​

    "The guy looks good right now," said Mattingly. "He comes with high expectations. He made a good decision today stopping at second base [instead of trying for a triple], compared to the other day when he got thrown out tagging to second. We'll continue doing what we've been doing, getting a look at things like that."​

    But Mattingly countered the suggestion that Puig might stick with the big league club if Crawford isn't active on Opening Day.​

    "Then you have the best chance of somebody going in the wrong direction,"Mattingly said. "You can get yourself in trouble. He's still raw. You don't want to get a guy beat up. Maybe he doesn't struggle, but that's not usually the case. We don't have to make a decision right now."​

    http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/n...notebook_id=42206440&vkey=notebook_la&c_id=la
     
  7. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    dude is a fucken beast
     
  8. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    [​IMG]
     
  9. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    Gearing up for the iron lotus
     
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  10. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    cool read...

    Brito expects bright future in LA for fellow Cuban he first spotted 3 1/2 years ago
    By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 3/5/2013 8:05 P.M. ET​
    [​IMG]

    PEORIA, Ariz. -- The renaissance of the Dodgers, clearly in evidence by a revamped roster and stadium under renovation, has also been felt by the scouting department in general and one scout in particular.​

    Mike Brito, who still wears a distinctive Panama hat and had been a fixture with his radar gun behind home plate until technology took over, is the scout who teamed with Mexican colleague Corito Verona to discover and help acquire Fernando Valenzuela in 1979.​

    Three decades later, Brito was the first Dodgers scout to see Yasiel Puig in a game at a junior tournament in Canada. That was 3 1/2 years ago and Puig's eventual signing for a staggering $42 million linked Brito with another budding Dodgers superstar.​

    With a body like Bo Jackson, Puig possesses power, running speed, ball-catching skills and a right-fielder arm. But with limited exposure as a young Cuban ballplayer, Puig's raw skills were relatively under wraps when he escaped his homeland for free agency.​

    When vice president of scouting Logan White and Brito attended Puig's audition workout last June in Mexico City, they only saw him hit. Brito said White trusted his opinion and White said after seeing Puig hit, he was confident in the other tools, but was curious about the intangibles.​

    "Those three days I spent getting to know the kid," White said. "I wanted to know what kind of person he was. He has an infectious smile, he's full of energy, he's just a good human being. Getting to know his makeup, I was sold.​

    "You could see he had a chance to be a five-tool player. When he played catch, I liked his arm action. I didn't have to see him run to know he was a plus runner. He's still learning, but he has the skills to be a quality player."​

    Brito was sold on Puig at the age of 17.​

    [​IMG]

    "You don't need to be a genius to see the talent with a guy like this," Brito said. "He showed me arm, speed, power to all fields. I went to that tournament to scout everybody. I always watch the Cuban team because you never know when somebody will defect. It's like when I signed Fernando. I went to see a shortstop Fernando was pitching against. I never signed the shortstop."​

    While Valenzuela became the Mexican star that Hall of Fame owner Walter O'Malley had always sought, Puig provides Brito with a potential success story even closer to his homeland. Brito left his native Cuba in 1955 when he was signed by the Washington Senators.​

    "I always wanted [to sign] a Cuban player," Brito said. "I know the Cubans got talent. Before [Fidel] Castro, Cubans produced more players than anywhere other than the United States. With Castro in power, everything changed. But people there tell me that they have so much talent there, if we had a tryout camp, we'd sign 80 percent of them."​

    The total financial package Puig received is spread over seven years and included a Major League roster spot. The Cubs, at the time, were believed to be the Dodgers' most aggressive competition for Puig's autograph.​

    The $42 million was considered by most clubs as wildly excessive, but the Dodgers needed impact hitters in their farm system and wanted to make a statement that the years of ignoring international talent because of economics were over.​

    They sure paid up to do it. The per capita annual income in Cuba equates to $5,600, so over the life of the deal Puig will earn as much as 7,500 Cubans combined earn in a year.​

    "I appreciate that Logan took my word on the kid," said Brito. "Logan did a nice job with him."​

    Brito said Dodgers fans will enjoy Puig's home runs, like the blast he launched Sunday. But with bloggers already speculating that Puig, the Dodgers' top prospect, could step into left field if Carl Crawford isn't ready for Opening Day, Brito cautioned patience.​

    "He's got a long ways to go," Brito said. "I agree with Don Mattingly. For me, in my opinion, Puig will be a star with the club, a superstar. But he's got to go step by step."​

    Brito said Puig is a bigger version of Brito's childhood hero, former White Sox and Indians outfielder Minnie Minoso. He said one of Puig's special traits is his confidence, and Brito said he's noticed Puig's improved maturity after last season, when he demonstrated a lack of knowledge of baseball etiquette that infuriated opponents and teammates alike.​

    "He's not dumb," said Brito. "He knows we're trying to help him. Coming to a different country like this, it's not easy, but he has to listen to us."​

    Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

    __
     
  11. MZA

    MZA MODERATOR Staff Member

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    I really hope what they're saying is true and that Puig is really listening to any advice from managers/scouts/the guy at Dairy Queen/whatever are giving him to improve. He looks like a fucking monster and has all the raw potential in the world.

    Imagine him in the lineup, all ready to go, with Kemp, Gonzo, Hanley, Dre, etc. Hell, when we play AL teams in their park, they'll have to contend with that lineup, and one of those guys will be the DH.

    It'll be unfair I tells ya.
     
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  12. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    If everything goes at least slightly our way for once we'll be tough as hell to take down.
     
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  13. MZA

    MZA MODERATOR Staff Member

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    One day we'll have the Bull and the Bison in the outfield together.
     
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  14. CapnTreee

    CapnTreee Guest

    A little unfair ain't always bad...
     
  15. Doughty8

    Doughty8 DSP Legend

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    I've also been impressed by their patience and I am really excited about how much the coaches are emphasizing fundamentals. Our relays have been very successful thus far. Puig can flat out play defense. Uribe actually homered too, even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
     
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  16. bestlakersfan

    bestlakersfan DSP Legend

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    Just want to say I <3 the title of this thread.
     
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  17. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    ^then you'll really the new one i just created for chad...:whack:
     
  18. TuborgP

    TuborgP DSP Legend

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    Two hits so far today
     
  19. Doughty8

    Doughty8 DSP Legend

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    Intrigue of Puig tough for Dodgers to ignore
    By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com | 03/11/2013 8:21 PM ET

    PHOENIX -- To Don Mattingly, $42 million Cuban outfielder Yasiel Puig has gone from "fun to watch" to
    "surprising."

    Whether that takes Puig onto the Opening Day roster if left fielder Carl Crawford goes on the disabled
    list, Mattingly still isn't saying.

    "He can play, that's for sure, but that's not one of the things I'm willing to make a decision on or talk
    about," Mattingly said. "It's still too early."

    OK, but the Dodgers' top prospect is hitting .452 after going 2-for-2 in Monday's 3-2 loss to the Brewers.
    He's not pull happy, he's learning to run the bases and trying to contain his aggressiveness on defense.

    "He's surprised me," Mattingly said. "He struggled in Puerto Rico [Winter League], didn't play a lot of
    games last year [after signing]. I was excited to see him once he got some at-bats. The guy's going to
    be exciting on this level. He's smart, makes adjustments. He needs to play. He's rough, but he's a wild
    horse. He plays wild, but he's fun to watch.

    "The thing I like about Puig is he doesn't swing and miss for a power guy. You don't see him miss very
    often. How many times have you seen him miss balls in the strike zone?"

    .
     
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  20. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    Yasiel Puig may force Dodgers to reconsider patience plan
    By Steve Dilbeck | Los Angeles Times
    March 11, 2013, 5:11 p.m.

    Everyone understands the logic. Can’t really argue with it.

    Yasiel Puig needs some serious seasoning. As enormously talented as he appears, he is a player with a total of 82 at-bats at the minors’ lower levels. He screams for polish. Manager Don Mattingly calls him “raw.”

    All very good. All indisputable. And yet … if the 22-year-old Puig continues to sting the ball and Carl Crawford is not ready to go by opening day, the Dodgers are going to have to consider playing him on April 1.

    That seems ridiculous, I know. It’s the middle of March. His situation demands perspective. The Cuban defector is as green as a player can be.

    Yet while everyone has nodded heads in approval while waiting for his lack of experience to show, all he has done is continue to crush the ball.

    [​IMG]

    The five-tool Puig had two more hits Monday in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix, raising his season average to .452.

    Of the Dodgers getting regular looks this spring, that gives him the second-highest batting average and RBI total (seven) on the team, and he’s tied for most runs (seven).

    He clearly needs to play regularly, which is why the Dodgers hadn’t even considered using him as the fourth outfielder. But if Crawford can’t go and Puig can start? At this rate, it could be a worthy gamble.

    It’s not like he would be placed in the middle of the lineup and expected to carry the team. The lineup is loaded, which would actually be a great way for him to break in.

    It still sounds a tad ludicrous, but if he keeps this up and Crawford can’t start the season, Puig could force the Dodgers to change their short-term plans. His potential is exciting, which was sort of the idea when they signed him to a $42-million deal.

    .
     
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