Yasiel Puig: Should the Dodgers Ship Out Their Suddenly 'Available' Outfielder?

No way.

No how.

No chance.

That is the logical reaction to Monday night's word that the Los Angeles Dodgers have alerted teams to Yasiel Puig's trade-market availability. Rumors on the topic have been floating around the last few days, with everything from the team dangling him to the Cincinnati Reds to the team assuring Puig would not be moved. 

As Friday's non-waiver trade deadline of 4 p.m. ET approaches, there is a possibility that one of the game's most dynamic, entertaining, talented, marketable—and polarizing—players could be headed out of Hollywood. The latest revelation comes from USA Today's Bob Nightengale, who tweeted the Dodgers have let teams know Puig would be "available in the right deal":

"

The #Dodgers have let teams know that Yasiel Puig is available in the right deal, but teams showing much more interest in their prospects.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 28, 2015"

This comes on the heels of a slew of Puig rumors.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Friday night that the Dodgers would be open to trading Puig, their 24-year-old superstar right fielder. The catch was that they would ask for equal value in return, which is nearly impossible considering Puig's production when healthy, age and team-friendly contract that has him under control through 2018. 

Rosenthal also unearthed the Reds rumor, which had the Dodgers sending Puig and two top prospects to Cincinnati for Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman. He then covered it back up as he reported that scenario was never brought up by either club.

A day later Jon Heyman of CBS Sports chimed in by reporting that Puig asked the Dodgers about the rumors, and the team assured him it did not plan to trade him.

The Dodgers "are not having any conversations about Puig and are not interested in moving him," sources close to the situation told Heyman.

But just minutes before Nightengale's tweet, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reported Puig was never told any such thing by the Dodgers. Puig was his firsthand source.

"I'll play anywhere," Puig told Hernandez. "I came to the United States [from Cuba] to play baseball. Baseball is the same anywhere. If they want to trade me, that's their decision. I can't do anything about that."

Whether Puig is on the trading block or not, finding equal value for him could be incredibly difficult if not impossible considering his age, salary and production. As his current contract stands, Puig will earn $19.5 million over the next three seasons.

He spent five weeks on the disabled list this season with a hamstring injury, but in 2013 and 2014, according to FanGraphs, he was one of the best outfielders in the game, posting a 152 wRC+, the third-highest total in the majors behind Mike Trout (172) and Andrew McCutchen (162).

His FanGraphs WAR (9.5) in those seasons ranks 11th, but he registers that low on the list only because WAR is a counting stat and Puig did not make his major league debut until June of his first season and played in only 252 of a possible 324 games over those two years.

If the Dodgers can get even a hint of that production for the duration of Puig's contract, he is still a player being paid below market value. If he stays healthy and replicates that kind of production again, he might be the biggest bang for any buck the sport has to offer, and that must be mighty attractive to a team that has its share of massive contracts.

"I wouldn't give up on him now," Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter told Hernandez earlier this month. "I think he's just going to be a great player."

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The hot take this season is that the Dodgers are tiring of Puig's attitude. That surfaced this summer when tales of his run-ins and altercations with other players were written about in The Best Team Money Can Buy, a book by Molly Knight detailing how the franchise has tried to turn itself into the sport's powerhouse.

The truth is, though, Puig has been showing up late, flouting the rules and generally irritating teammates since he arrived in the big leagues, and stories of that kind have been common knowledge around Dodgers brass, uniformed personnel and media. The team, however, had tried to protect Puig's reputation by not relaying those stories on the record to the media.

Sure, the Dodgers would like Puig to be a better teammate and employee. But they also like his production when he is healthy, and they especially love it when they are paying pennies on the dollar for it.

Should the Dodgers trade Yasiel Puig? No. Not unless the return is a clear, present and future win for the franchise.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter and talk baseball @awitrado.