As an outfielder Yasiel Puig remains unsigned and hopes to return to Ligi mari, allegations of sexual assault filed against him earlier this off-season continues to cloud the market. Both Andy McCullough of The Athletic and John Barr of ESPN looked in depth at the situation and allegations this week. McCullough spoke with Puig’s agent, Rachel Luba, and Barr interviewed both the alleged victim and her brother.
Luba declined to comment on ongoing litigation when asked by The Athletic, choosing to focus on the outfield’s baseball resume and desire to return to the game. No police complaints or criminal charges have been filed against Puig, although he is the subject of a civil lawsuit filed by his accuser.
Barr’s report is the first indication that the league has investigated the issue, although a full investigation has not yet been conducted. According to Barr, the league informed the applicant and her lawyer that no further investigation would be possible because she had not yet provided her name.
She tells Barr that she prefers to keep her identity out of public reports on the matter, as she runs a business in the Los Angeles area where she works with other professional athletes. For the purpose of the trial against Puig and his interview with Barr, she is only called “Jane Roe”.
The alleged incident, which is said to have occurred when Puig followed the woman to the bathroom at a 2018 Lakers game, is detailed in reports related to ESPN and The Athletic.
Barr notes that court documents also detail a series of text messages from Puig to his accuser in the days after the Lakers game in question, in which Puig sought to arrange a private meeting between the two. The woman tells Barr that she doesn’t remember when she gave Puig her number, but that it wouldn’t have been unusual for her to do it for business reasons.
McCullough and colleagues Ken Rosenthal and Katie Strang point out that Puig’s party has filed a motion to dismiss the trial, assuming that the publicity of the trial remains anonymous and only seeks “the conviction of Mr. Puig in the public opinion court before Mr. Puig.” he even has the opportunity to defend himself ”.
The applicant’s lawyer describes that motion as a ‘subtle hidden attempt by the defendant Puig to humiliate, harass and punish his client and pressured the woman to drop the charges.
At this time, there is no indication of when a judge will rule on the trial or the motion to dismiss, although Barr writes that the trial itself is enough to discourage many clubs from showing a legitimate interest in Puig.
Puig, 30, was a lightning rod for controversy just before the allegations surfaced in November, and a front office executive tells Barr that the teams simply don’t “want the headache” associated with signing it.
Puig has been arrested twice for reckless driving in the past and has sometimes received discipline from the team for being late in the field, although Luba claims it was due to an undiagnosed case of ADHD that is now being treated.
Antillean Puig has not played in a major league match since the end of the 2019 season, as a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves failed last winter, when Puig tested positive for Covid-19.