After a long and harrowing journey to the United States that nearly left Cleveland Indians outfielder Yasiel Puig for dead, Puig has officially been an American citizen, he announced via Instagram on Wednesday:
Puig became an American citizen 🇺🇸
(via @YasielPuig) pic.twitter.com/e5sc6A2j8O
— ESPN (@espn) August 15, 2019
ESPN detailed Puig's defection from Cuba via black-market smuggling in 2014, a story that initially helped the MLB secure a deal that allowed teams to sign Cuban players directly. That deal has since been cancelled by the Trump Administration.
Scott Eden's story–which was featured in the soon-to-be defunct ESPN: The Magazine–plays out in multiple parts, but the physical defection itself, which also went through Mexico, was long and taxing:
THAT YASIEL PUIG — who can now be seen in paparazzi photographs, his arms around the shoulders of the likes of Jay Z — departed Cuba in a clandestine operation that involved a 50-kilometer swampland trek and a cigarette boat piloted by Zeta-affiliated gangsters speaks to a certain root absurdity in the ways of man.
Puig became a sensation almost as soon as he hit the MLB stage, hitting .421 with four homers in his first five games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013. Puig would go on to finish second in the National League Rookie of the Year Award voting that year, but his career has also been a tumultuous voyage.
The 28-year-old has, at times, been criticized for his temperament, and also faced questions about his character when he was demoted by the Dodgers in 2016.
Los Angeles would eventually trade him to the Cincinnati Reds, who have since traded him to the Cleveland Indians. While the mercurial Puig might be controversial amongst fans, he has been hailed as an excellent, and it is a wonder that he was able to become an American citizen against all odds.
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