Former Dodgers All-Star Outfielder Makes Plea to MLB Teams to Sign Him

It has been six years since former All-Star outfielder Yasiel Puig has played in a Major League game.

The Cienfuegos, Cuba native quickly made a name for himself in MLB, finishing second in the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year voting after posting a career-best .319/.391/.534 slash line and .925 OPS. He went on to earn his first and only All-Star selection the following year.

Puig played six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2013-18 before splitting his final MLB season with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians.

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The 2017 Wilson Defensive Player of the Year became a United States citizen in 2019. But he faced legal trouble, which included multiple sexual assault allegations and reports that he placed wagers with an illegal sports betting operation in 2022.

Puig was also involved in a brawl between the Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019, leading to his two-game suspension. In addition to Puig, Pirates starting pitcher Chris Archer received a five-game suspension and Reds manager David Bell was dealt a one-game suspension for the incident.

Although Puig was never officially banned from MLB, the controversies have prevented him from signing with an MLB team since the 2019 season. However, Puig recently expressed his hope for a second chance to return to the Major Leagues in the future.

“I hope that one day @mlb I can have the opportunities opened up for me like they have for others who have failed. Many will say things about me that aren't true, but I ask that you look at something: I have never been suspended for reasons outside of the field. I ask that justice be done one day. I will never give up,” Puig wrote on X in a post translated from Spanish to English.

🙏🏾 Ojalá algún día @mlb me pueda abrir las oportunidades como se las han abierto a otros que si han suspendido. Muchos dirán cosas de mí que no son ciertas pero pido miren algo: jamás me suspendieron por motivos fuera del terreno. Pido se haga justicia algún dia. Nunca me… https://t.co/Z6pIyc6VDX
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) March 22, 2025

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Puig was reportedly set to sign a free agent contract with the Atlanta Braves in 2020. But he tested positive for COVID-19, which stopped the deal from solidifying.

Since departing from MLB, Puig has played in several international leagues. He played in the Mexican League with El Aguila de Veracruz, where he won the MEX Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021 and a MEX Midseason All-Star selection in 2024.

This season, Puig announced he would return to South Korea to play with the Kiwoom Heroes. As a result, Puig will leave his winter league team, Tiburones de La Guaira in Venezuela.

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