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Yeah, I don't think anyone questions Puig's skills. As Pogues points out, if he ever stays healthy all year, I'm sure the counting stats will be there, and he will be a roto/fantasy stud, as he already has been in spurts.
In my league, the guys with the talent always go for top dollar, even if their final numbers end up in line with lesser players year after year. So Puig is someone I'd shy away from, just in the context of my league, and the premium others pay for the "what if he stays healthy" projection. In a league that, rightly I think, discounts a guy for not consistently putting it all together for a full season, he could be a bargain in any given year as he puts up MVP numbers. But he is also likely to under-earn his salary more often than not, if you aren't discounting him based on the risk he has shown so far.
Puig reminds me a little of JD Drew. Drew always had tremendous talent, which showed in his OPS, but got banged up almost every year, missed some games, played hurt in some other games, and rarely put up the final numbers people expected, based on talent. But in my league, people were bidding him up expecting his 2004 year every year, so I never got him, and I never regretted that, even in 2004.
Of course, Puig is still young, and if he ever strings together 2+ seasons of 145+ games of top performance, he will then deserve to be auctioned and drafted as the first round talent he is. But I wouldn't pay first round prices on someone who has put up first round numbers consistently yet.
In my league, the guys with the talent always go for top dollar, even if their final numbers end up in line with lesser players year after year. So Puig is someone I'd shy away from, just in the context of my league, and the premium others pay for the "what if he stays healthy" projection. In a league that, rightly I think, discounts a guy for not consistently putting it all together for a full season, he could be a bargain in any given year as he puts up MVP numbers. But he is also likely to under-earn his salary more often than not, if you aren't discounting him based on the risk he has shown so far.
Puig reminds me a little of JD Drew. Drew always had tremendous talent, which showed in his OPS, but got banged up almost every year, missed some games, played hurt in some other games, and rarely put up the final numbers people expected, based on talent. But in my league, people were bidding him up expecting his 2004 year every year, so I never got him, and I never regretted that, even in 2004.
Of course, Puig is still young, and if he ever strings together 2+ seasons of 145+ games of top performance, he will then deserve to be auctioned and drafted as the first round talent he is. But I wouldn't pay first round prices on someone who has put up first round numbers consistently yet.
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