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Yasiel Puig claimed off waivers, but don't count on a trade from Dodgers

(AP)
(AP)

The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to have found another team that wants Yasiel Puig. However, that doesn’t mean the embattled outfielder is necessarily on the move.

According to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, an unknown team has made a waiver claim on Puig, who the Dodgers sent down to Triple-A earlier this month after not being able to move him at the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

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What that means essentially in modern terms: Some unknown team out there swiped right on Puig. But, like the world of digital dating, it takes more than one side’s interest to make a move.

The Dodgers would now need to work out a trade with this unknown-to-us suitor and there’s no guarantee they would do that. As recently as last week, Heyman reported the Dodgers weren’t just going to give Puig away. He’s on a team-friendly contract and has enough potential to create trade value. He’s also been pretty good in Triple-A (.369 with a 1.045 OPS, four homers and 12 RBIs in 18 games), so maybe that’s restored some hope from L.A.’s front office.

On Tuesday, after the Puig waiver news hit, Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal said you shouldn’t count on a trade either. The Dodgers will still probably wait out the market, Rosenthal said, and see if they can get a better deal from someone else down the road.

The economic principle in play here: They can get more for Puig from an open market than dealing one-on-one with a team making a waiver claim, which might just be looking to score Puig for a price in the neighborhood of free-99.

The upshot here: Suppose we’ll find out just how eager the Dodgers are to get rid of Puig, won’t we?

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!