Major League Baseballs controversial million dollar man ... Yasiel Puig Valdés is an Afro-Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Puig played for the Cuban national baseball team in the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship, winning a bronze medal. He defected from Cuba in 2012, and signed a seven-year, $42 million contract with the Dodgers. He made his MLB debut on June 3, 2013. In 2013, Puig hit .319 in 104 games with 19 home runs, and was selected by Baseball America to their annual All-Rookie team. Puig played for the Cuban national baseball team in the 2008 World Junior Baseball Championship, winning a bronze medal. He then played for the Cienfuegos team of the Cuban National Series in the 2008–09 Cuban National Series. He batted .276 with five home runs in his debut season. Puig enjoyed a breakout season in the 2009-10 Cuban National Series, with a .330 batting average, 17 home runs, 47 runs batted in (RBIs) and 78 runs scored in 327 at-bats. Puig also played for the Cuban national team in the 2011 World Port Tournament where he tried to defect along with teammate Gerardo Concepcion. Concepcion was successful while Puig was not and was disciplined by not being allowed to play during the 2011–12 seasons. Since 2011, he tried to defect to Mexico five times, in order to become a legal resident so he could become eligible to sign a contract in Major League Baseball. He was taken to Mexico by the Los Zetas, a murderous Mexican drug cartel involved in cocaine and smuggling. At least two were fugitives. The first time, the police pulled over Despaigne’s car. The second time, the boat failed to arrive. The third time, police raided their safe house and detained them for six days. On the fourth try, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant intercepted their boat near Haiti. The fifth time, he went with three companions: a boxer, a pinup girl, and a Santeria priest. They tried to sell Puig for $250,000 to Floridian Raul Pacheco, the 29-year-old president of Miami-based T&P Metal and PY Recycling. After Puig would sign an MLB contract, he would owe 20% of Pacheco. Pacheco was arrested in 2009 for attempted burglary after asking a friend to help him remove an air-conditioning unit. He told police “I have stolen from these people in the past.” He was arrested in 2010 for using a fake Bank of America credit card to buy $150 worth of beer. Police found four other fraudulent credit cards and a fake ID card. He was sentenced to two years’ probation. In addition, they also offered him to Los Angeles-based agent Gus Dominguez, starting at $175,000. They also offered him to New York-based agent Joe Kehoskie, starting at $250,000. “Nobody’s going to Cuba and bringing out a guy like Yasiel Puig,” Kehoskie said, “and just handing him over to an agent out of the goodness of their heart.” A month later, the captain of the smuggling boat, Yandrys León, was found dead in Cancun. León was called “one of the most important capos of the Cuban-American mafia” by the United Press International. Cuban boxer Miguel Angel Corbacho Daudinot was sentenced to seven years in prison after Puig testified against him. He filed a federal lawsuit against Puig last year, claiming that Puig violated the Torture Victim Protection Act. He is suing Puig for $12 million. According to court records, Puig has paid Pacheco over $1.3 million. He also paid $400,000 to $500,000 to Alberto Fariñas, the 49-year-old vice president of Pacheco’s T&P Metal company, and $600,000 to Marcos Gonzalez, a Miami lawyer. He also paid an undisclosed amount to Gilberto Suarez, founder of a start-up company called Miami Sport Management. In June 2, 2013, the Dodgers announced that they had recalled Puig from Chattanooga and he made his debut on June 3. In his first at-bat he singled to left-center off Eric Stults of the San Diego Padres. He was 2 for 4 in the game and showcased his strong arm by recording an outfield assist on a double play to end the game. Puig hit two home runs, doubled and drove in five runs in his second game. He became the first Dodger ever to have a multi-homer game in one of his first two appearances. The first home run was off Padres pitcher Clayton Richard. In his fourth game, on June 6, 2013, he hit a grand slam off of Cory Gearrin of the Atlanta Braves. The following day, Puig hit another homer to become only the 2nd player in the modern era (Mike Jacobs in 2005 was the other) to hit four home runs in his first five games and his 10 RBI tied the Major League record for most RBI in the first five games of a career (with Danny Espinosa (2010) and Jack Merson (1951)). Puig was named the National League Player of the Week for the week of June 3–9. Puig had 27 hits in his first 15 games, tied with Joe DiMaggio (1936) and Terry Pendleton (1984) for second most all-time behind Irv Waldron (1901) and Bo Hart (2003) with 28. He also became the first player in major league history to record at least 34 hits and seven home runs in his first 20 games and set Dodger records for most hits through 20 games (one more than Gibby Brack in 1937) and total bases through 20 games (58, four more than Del Bissonette in 1928). Puig finished the month of June with 44 hits, breaking Steve Saxs 1983 team record for most hits by a rookie in one month. That total was also second all-time for rookies in their first month, behind only DiMaggio who had 48. In 26 games in June, Puig hit .436 with a .467 on-base percentage and a .713 slugging percentage. He won both the National League Rookie of the Month Award and the National League Player of the Month Award, the first time someone had won both in their first month in the Majors. Despite his not making his debut until June, Puig received 842,915 write-in votes from the fans for the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. His name was included among the All-Star Final Vote candidates. Puig received 15.5 million votes, second to Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman who received 19.7 million. In 2013, Puig hit .319 in 104 games with 19 home runs and 42 RBIs. He was selected by Baseball America to their annual All-Rookie team and finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting to fellow Cuban José Fernández. On May 17, 2014, Puig had his seventh consecutive game with at least one extra-base hit and at least one RBI, which tied for the longest streak by a Dodger with Pedro Guerrero (1985), Duke Snider (1954) and Howie Schultz (1944).
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 17:28:35 +0000
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