Dodgers player: Getting rid of Puig 'would be addition by subtraction'

Barely two years have passed since Yasiel Puig first pulled on a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform.

Since his highly anticipated debut, back in June 2013, only five players have enjoyed more success at the plate than Puig, who boasts a 153 wRC+ over parts of three seasons in the majors. He's also tied for 14th in the National League in wins above replacement over that span, playing in decidedly fewer games than most of those ahead of him on the leaderboard.

Still, he remains one of baseball's most polarizing characters: insanely talented, of course, but an unabashed showman who remains dangerously prone to lapses in decision-making.

And some of his teammates are no longer willing to conceal their distaste for both his antics on the field and the way he reportedly conducts himself off the field.

"We've talked about this," one Dodgers player told Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. "At this point, it would be addition by subtraction."

The contempt brewing towards Puig is chronicled in a new book – "The Best Team Money Can Buy" – by Molly Knight, a mainstay in the Dodgers' clubhouse for the last two summers. Though, admittedly, some issues have improved this season, Puig continues to draw his teammates' collective ire with his work ethic both in the weight room and during batting practice.

Over the last three years, Puig has almost come to blows with teammates on multiple occasions, according to Knight. Puig nearly resorted to fisticuffs with Justin Turner during spring training when Puig broached the possibility of bringing someone from his entourage on a flight that usually includes wives and children. Last summer, J.P. Howell needed to restrain Puig during an altercation with Zack Greinke when the enigmatic outfielder held up a team bus ride in Chicago.

Puig remains under contract through 2018, however, and will likely remain a fixture in Los Angeles so long as he continues to produce on the field and put butts in the seats at Chavez Ravine.

"You guys tell me how you want me to play," Puig said during a meeting last year, according to Knight's book, and a few teammates spoke up, including then-Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who said: "I just don't want your career to go the way my career went. All my teammates hated me because of the way I played."