Yasiel Puig is a polarizing player. To say that’s the case in the Bay Area would be a gross understatement.
Not only has Puig been the most flamboyant player on the Giants’ biggest rival over the past few seasons, he’s also had multiple altercations with one of the organizations biggest heros in Madison Bumgarner.
Whether you love to hate him or just plain hate him, most Giants fans regard Puig as public enemy number one. Surprisingly, however, Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow no longer feels that way. Though he was once disgusted by the antics of the Dodgers right fielder, Krukow believes that Puig showed a new maturity during the 2017 season, and even went so far as to say that he would love to see him in orange and black, when he joined Murph & Mac on Tuesday morning.
“I’d have said I don’t want him to come near the Giants organization,” Krukow said referring to his previous feelings about Puig. “But I think now I’d love to have him in the organization because of what we saw last year, and I think a lot of teams say the same thing about the guy.”
Puig, 26, burst on to the scene in 2013, but looked to be in free fall when he was sent down to the minors at the end of the 2016 season. Puig turned things around in 2017, posting a line of .263/.346/.487 with 28 home runs, and was a key contributor for the NL champion Dodgers.
“I think he’s finally starting to mature a little bit,” Krukow continued. “I’ve been really frustrated with the guy because he’s got such incredible tools and I’ve been pretty critical of him throughout his time in the big leagues. Things that I’ve seen that I just shake my head at, and really quite honestly at times disgust me. To me, there’s no greater disgust than a guy that has great talent and watching him not develop or work it out, and he was that type of athlete.
“Last year he made some strides to become a big leaguer, and I think over a period of time it’s going to happen. As he matures he’s realizes he doesn’t have much time in this game and you do indeed have to take advantage of it. He is an interesting player.”
Puig is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the 2018 season.
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Kruk’s comments on Puig, skip to 2:30.