Van Slyke, Kershaw address Puig trade rumors

With only a few weeks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training, Scott Van Slyke and Clayton Kershaw are attempting to smooth things over with their Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Yasiel Puig.

Former big-league outfielder Andy Van Slyke - father of Scott - took to the airwaves early in the offseason, stating "the highest-paid player on the team" told Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman that the first thing he had to do was get rid of Puig.

Related: Friedman: Kershaw never told me to trade Puig

Kershaw, who is set to earn nearly $36 million this season, is the obvious suspect, but Scott Van Slyke says he never told his father Kershaw asked team management to deal Puig.

"I may have said something that led to that conclusion by himself, but by no means was I gossiping about things happening to other people," Scott Van Slyke said Saturday. "I don't feel like I need to apologize to Yasiel. He knows how I feel about him. I make it clear to him every day in the clubhouse how I feel about him. I'm not two-faced. What you see is what you get. How I treat you in public is how I treat you in private."

Kershaw also addressed the rumors after Van Slyke apologized to the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner for the "mishap."

"The only thing I can say about all that is Scott is one of my best friends," Kershaw said. "I believe whatever Scott says. Anything that happens outside of that, I wouldn't pay attention to. It's not the truth. Scott is one of my best friends, so whatever I say to Scott is what I say to Scott. Everything else might not be the truth."

Puig's unpopularity with teammates since breaking into the league in 2013 is well-documented. He's previously clashed with Justin Turner, Matt Kemp, and Zack Greinke in separate incidents, and was involved in a bar fight in Miami around Thanksgiving.