Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig has been claimed on revocable waivers by an unknown team, Today's Knuckleball reported Tuesday. The Dodgers can now try to work out a trade with the team.
Puig, 25, was demoted to the minors earlier this month a day after the Dodgers couldn't move him before the non-waiver trade deadline.
He told ESPN's Marly Rivera on Monday that he would have preferred a trade to another team instead of being demoted to the minors, but he also admitted he has learned some humility since joining the Dodgers' Triple-A team in Oklahoma City.
"The moment I arrived in L.A., people were crazy for me -- 50-60 thousand people [cheering] at the stadium," Puig said in the interview. "I got used to that amount of fans. Getting to Triple-A and not seeing as many fans is not very appealing or fun to play baseball, but this is what I have to do for my future."
Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman, speaking before the team's game at Colorado Tuesday night, said he has seen a similar change in Puig's focus and attitude since he was sent down to the minors.
"I think the conversations we had with him at the beginning of August really resonated with him," Freidman said. "I think there has been a very conscious effort to listen to what was said and to apply it to his daily work. The reports from (OKC manager) Bill Haselman are very good."
Friedman said the team was still deciding whether to keep Puig down in Oklahoma City for the entirety of the AAA playoffs.
"We have gotten into a decent amount of it in terms of our initial wave of call ups and subsequent callus and how different guys will be used," Friedman said. "That is something we will spend more time on tonight, tomorrow and try to finalize it Friday."
Puig was an All-Star in 2014 after a meteoric rise with the Dodgers, who signed the Cuban prospect to a $42 million, seven-year contract in June 2012. He hit 35 homers and drove in 111 runs while batting .305 in 2013-14, but slipped to .255 last season while playing in just 79 games because of hamstring troubles.
Puig has been physically limited and largely inconsistent even when healthy this season, batting .260 with seven homers in 81 games. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage is down to a career-worst .706.