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 37