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Puig: Dodgers trade 'didn't get anyone who could help them the way I could'

Norm Hall / Getty Images Sport / Getty

During his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yasiel Puig was a lightning rod for controversy. That doesn't seem to have changed despite the outfielder's move to the Cincinnati Reds.

While Puig still has love for the City of Angels, he shared some bitterness about the way he was jettisoned by his former team.

"It's their problem," Puig said in Spanish, as translated by Jon Tayler of Sports Illustrated. "I don't know what they did with that trade, because they didn't get anyone who could help them the way I could. But that's business."

The Dodgers sent Puig to the Reds in late December along with fellow outfielder Matt Kemp and left-handed starter Alex Wood. In exchange, they received Homer Bailey, who has since been released, and a pair of prospects in Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray.

The trade was widely regarded as a salary dump for the Dodgers, who shed Kemp's $21.75-million contract and Puig's $9.7-million deal for 2019. Both are scheduled to hit free agency after this season.

Puig's tenure in Los Angeles routinely seemed to have an expiration date; he was relegated to a bench role last year as the Dodgers aggressively platooned. The 28-year-old posted a .267/.327/.494 slash line with 23 homers and 15 stolen bases over 125 games. He figures to once again become an everyday player with the Reds.

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