Takeover Magazine 1st issue april 15th 2016 | Page 39

Puig, is a wildcard and his game and
personality are very unpredictable. Last week
Puig signed a $ 42 million dollar deal for 7
years, for a player with his skills and potential
that is a very modest contract. Trout is a
phenomenal player; his salary of $ 23 million
a year compared to Puig's, $ 6 million, is a
stretch. Harper is great, over $ 300 million
dollars better then Puig, that is unfathomable.
Puig took major league baseball by storm in
June 2013, in his first at bat he singled, went
2 for 4 in the game and showed off his arm
with an outfield assist on a double play to
end the game. In his second game, he hit
two home runs, a double and had 5 RBI’s,
the first Dodger to ever have a multi-homer
game two games into his major league
career. In his fourth game, he hit a grand
slam and his fifth game; he hit another home
run and registered 10 RBI’s in his first five
games, which tied him for most in MLB
history for that span.
Puig, won the NL player of the week, that
first month his numbers were insane, 7 HR’s,
44 hits second most to (Joe DiMaggio who
had 48). His batting average was an
outstanding .436 and he won the NL Rookie
of the Month and NL Player of the month, the
first MLB player in history to ever accomplish
that feat. Puig after being called up in June,
really ignited the Dodgers and he finished
second for the rookie of the year award.
In the 2014 season, Puig had a stellar year
winning player of the month in May, with a .
398 batting average, 8 HR’s and 25 RBI’s.
Puig made his first all-star team, while
helping lead the Dodgers to back-to-back
Western Division crowns. Later that year,
Puig,

along with Harper, was chosen to represent
MLB in the Japan All-Star series, that
selection shows that baseball’s hierarchy
knows his talents are on par with the elite
MLB players.
The 2015 season, Puig had the injury bug
and his season was very up and down. He
was still a force when healthy, feeling
refreshed and healthy for this up and coming
season; Puig is ready to display his electric
talents once again on the diamond.
At the end of the day, Trout, Harper and Puig
all are 5-tool players, under the age of 26.
These type of talents are very hard to come
by. MLB is very fortunate to have three great
players of this magnitude playing at the same
time. The disparity in salary certainly cannot
be overlooked, Trout and Harper’s resumes
speak volumes about their overwhelming
talent but when you say one player is
$100-300 million dollars better than another
player with similar skills, you might have to
start looking at things that are not on the field
or part of the game, when that player is nonwhite.
I think Sheffield was right, control, economics
and race will always rule the day in baseball.
Puig might not have a full grasp of the
English language; he does not need to know
how to speak English to realize he is being
treated different from Trout and Harper.
Commentary by, Reynard Pringle

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