Yasiel Puig reportedly finds a home with Braves

It looks like the Dodgers will not play against Yasiel Puig until at least the playoffs. The former Dodgers outfielder has a new deal with the Atlanta Braves, per multiple reports.

Puig’s deal is apparently pending a physical.

Atlanta was in the market for outfield help after Nick Markakis opted out of playing in 2020 last week. In addition, 21-year-old outfielder Cristian Pache, a consensus top-25 prospect in baseball jammed his right ankle in an intrasquad game Monday, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

There were rumors seemingly for weeks of Puig signing with the Giants, which would have been an interesting twist on the rivalry, but instead of Farhan Zaidi signing him, Puig opted to go with another former Dodgers front office executive, current Braves head of baseball ops Alex Anthopoulos.

Puig played six years in Los Angeles, hitting .279/.353/.478, a 127 OPS+ with 108 home runs, a tenure marked by one of the most electric debut months in major league history, tongue wagging, bat licking, a World Series home run that got swallowed up by history, and Harambe. Puig also has played the most postseason games in Dodgers history, hitting .280/.351/.429 in 58 games.

Puig in two playoff series against the Braves (2013 NLDS, 2018 NLDS) was 11-for-26 (.423) with a double, four walks, and seven runs scored in eight games.

He was 5-for-22 (.227) in six games against them last season with the Reds, including a home run in his first at-bat back at Dodger Stadium. It would take either a trade to a western division team or waiting until the playoffs for Puig to play the Dodgers in 2020.