Cubs Rumors: Team would be wise to avoid Yasiel Puig ahead of deadline

There haven’t been any Cubs rumors directly connecting the team to Yasiel Puig, but the rumblings are out there – and they don’t make much sense to me.

Look, I get it. Yasiel Puig has solid postseason pedigree, hits lefties and righties equally well and adds a certain, how shall I put this, flair in the outfield. But he doesn’t adequately address the Chicago Cubs‘ biggest needs heading into the deadline.

According to The Athletic (subcription required), Puig is a ‘particularly strong’ candidate to be moved ahead of next Wednesday’s July 31 trade deadline – and it’s not hard to see why. Cincinnati is clearly looking to sell high – and given the number of teams in the hunt for a postseason spot, a high-risk, high-reward guy like Puig could be the difference.

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The Cubs currently have the likes of Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora and Jason Heyward holding down the three outfield spots on a regular basis, cycling in Kris Bryant on a pretty frequent basis, as well. Both Schwarber and Almora aren’t even league average offensive players by most metrics, and neither hit left-handers well.

That need – an outfielder who does handle southpaw pitching – has led the Cubs to engage with the Detroit Tigers in talks for Nicholas Castellanos, who absolutely crushes lefties. These discussions haven’t resulted in anything quite yet – but he fits the team’s need pretty perfectly as he carries an 1.135 OPS against left-handers into action Thursday.

Meanwhile, a guy like Puig, as exciting and high-ceilinged as he may be, doesn’t check that box – not even close. On the year, the former Dodgers outfielder is hitting just .266 against southpaws – just eight points higher than he hits righties. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that number, to be sure, but it’s a far cry from what someone like Castellanos would bring to the table.

Both guys will hit free agency at season’s end – and will likely net pretty comfortable paydays in the process. Should the Cubs pursue either, they’ll be looking at pure rentals. After lighting up opposing pitching for much of the last month, though, Puig has cooled – and the Reds may have missed their window to trade the slugging outfielder.

Over the last four weeks, Puig owns a robust .338/.400/.588 line – numbers any team would love to add to their lineup on a regular basis. But he’s cooled of late, slashing .238/.360/.333 in the last week. You love that on-base percentage, but he hasn’t been driving the ball for extra bases in the same way he was.

But there’s a reason this doesn’t make sense that goes far beyond the numbers – Puig’s on-field antics. There’s no love lost between the Cuban import and Cubs reliever Pedro Strop, who drilled him with a pitch earlier this season and called him ‘stupid’ after the game. The last thing this Cubs team needs right now – literally days after ridding themselves of one by sending Addison Russell to Triple-A Iowa – is another distraction.

So while Cubs Twitter might lose its mind when David Kaplan talks about what such a deal might look like, know this – this team needs help and has a lot of questions, but in no way is Yasiel Puig an answer.