LOS ANGELES _ Don Mattingly didn't feel appreciated by the Dodgers. Yasiel Puig feels betrayed by them, as they suddenly decided to crack down on his behavior after years of looking the other way.
What if they were to bury the hatchet to take down their common enemy?
It probably won't happen, but it's fun to imagine _ Dodgers vs. Marlins in the National League wild-card game, with Puig in right field for the Marlins and Mattingly in their dugout. (I know the Dodgers are in first place now, but indulge me for a second.)
From a baseball perspective, the move makes sense for the Marlins, who have lost All-Star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton for the remainder of the season. Stanton's absence is threatening to derail the team's surprising run at a postseason berth. The Marlins are desperate to replace Stanton's power, enough to where they considered making a run at broken-down Alex Rodriguez, according to multiple reports.
In his first eight games for triple-A Oklahoma City following his demotion, Puig batted .500 with three home runs and 11 runs batted in.
Of course, there are factors outside of baseball, the most important being that Mattingly and Puig can't stand each other. Several months ago, I jokingly asked a Marlins official if his team would consider trading for Puig. The response was predictable.
"That's not happening," the person said, inserting an expletive in the middle of the sentence to emphasize his point.
That probably hasn't changed. Even so, that wouldn't be the only obstacle standing in the way of the greatest wild-card game in the history of wild-card games. To position themselves to trade for Puig, the Marlins would have to win a waiver claim on him, which would require every NL team with a record worse than theirs to pass on him when he is placed on the wire. There is also the question of whether the Dodgers would send Puig to a potential postseason opponent, especially one led by their former manager.
Is it unlikely? Yes. But would it be spectacular? Absolutely.
