San Diego Padres: Now is the Time to Go Get Yasiel Puig

With the San Diego Padres asserting themselves as serious contenders, it’s time they make a big splash and sign Yasiel  Puig.

We’ve discussed the possibility before of the San Diego Padres possibly signing Yasiel Puig, and that was even before the DH was a reality in 2020.

Now that we’re nearly one-third of the way through the season and the Padres are proving on the field they can compete with the best in the game, it’s time to add a little fuel to the fire.

And there is no bigger flame starter than Yasiel Puig.

Whatever your feelings on him, he brings a lot of energy to the field every night and has been a very good player in his career.

The Atlanta Braves were set to sign him just before the season began, but after he tested positive for COVID-19 they backed out of that deal. And since then they’ve had Nick Markakis come back into the fold so they no longer have a need for Puig who hits right-handed pitching very well.

However, the Padres could certainly benefit from Puig’s presence in the lineup. Especially with the lack of production they’ve gotten from the DH spot.

Although, I still think Puig is an above-average defender with a great arm.

But either way, he adds another big bat to the lineup and just deepens the lineup even more.

Projected Padres Lineup with Puig

Tatis Jr. – SS

Grisham – CF

Machado – 3B

Pham – LF

Hosmer – 1B

Puig – DH

Myers – RF

Cronenworth – 2B

Catcher

Puig has been very consistent the last three years hitting around .265 with 23-28 home runs in each season being anywhere from a 2.9 to a 1.2 WAR player.

Of course, the only major concern is that Puig hasn’t played in a while and might need time to get up to speed, which is hard to do in a short season when you need someone to step in and do the job right away.

I really think Puig could be had for pretty cheap at this point and would be a small risk for the Padres that could end up being a huge reward.