Yasiel Puig was told by Dodgers he would be traded or demoted (Updated)

Tom Gatto

Yasiel Puig was told by Dodgers he would be traded or demoted (Updated) image

UPDATE 3: Puig accepted Rosenthal's apology:

UPDATE 2: Rosental later corrected his report to say the Dodgers left Puig behind in anticipation of a move.

UPDATE: Puig's agent, Adam Katz, told Rosenthal that Puig likely would be demoted Tuesday, although he seemed to dispute the storming-off part of the report. “I'm told he was not at the park," Katz told Rosenthal.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Yasiel Puig and the Dodgers took one more step toward a nasty split Monday.

The club told the outfielder he would be sent to the minors if he wasn't traded by the 4 p.m. ET non-waiver trade deadline, Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported. Puig responded by leaving Dodger Stadium after the meeting.

SPECTOR: Deadline winners, losers

Puig wasn't traded and has yet to be demoted, but LA flew to Denver for a series vs. the Rockies without him.

A breakup between the sides seemed implausible before this year, but Puig's struggles at the plate have made him the odd man out in the Dodgers' outfield, especially after the team acquired Josh Reddick from the A's. Puig is batting .260/.320/.386 with seven home runs and has been in and out of the lineup because of injuries and ineffectiveness.

The Dodgers couldn't find any trade partners for Puig, although it was reported last week he might be part of a blockbuster deal that would have sent outfielder Jay Bruce from the Reds to the Dodgers. There were reports Monday the White Sox had expressed interest.

MORE: Trade deadline blog

LA signed the Cuban native to a seven-year, $42 million contract in 2012. Since then, Puig has been involved in several on-field and off-field incidents and his behavior has reportedly worn thin with the organization. 

Puig burst onto the scene in LA in 2013, hitting .319/.391/.534 with 19 home runs and 42 RBIs in 104 games. He has not been able to match that rate of production since.

Omnisport's Ron Clements contributed to this report. This article has ben updated.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.