Report: Yasiel Puig confidentially settled claims of sexual assault in 2017
Former major league All-Star Yasiel Puig confidentially settled two claims accusing him of sexual assault in January 2017, according to a published report.
Puig, 31, has not played in the major leagues since 2019, and spent the 2021 season playing in Mexico after a woman sued him in October 2020 after what she alleged was a non-consensual sexual encounter in October 2018. Yet Puig, according to a Washington Post report, also settled, for $325,000, two other claims of sexual assault that occurred before the 2017 season.
While one of the women contacted law enforcement after an alleged incident, no charges were filed. Major League Baseball investigators had a non-disclosure agreement with the women lifted, the Post reported, but it is unclear if the women ever spoke to MLB investigators.
Puig was investigated but not disciplined by MLB after a 2015 incident at a Miami club during which he allegedly pushed his sister.
Puig, who emigrated from Cuba and signed a $42 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in June 2012, recently posted to social media channels a statement from himself and his new agent, Lisette Carnet, citing his struggles assimilating while claiming that the media "pushed certain narratives about me because it sold more newspapers."
Puig debuted in rousing fashion in 2013, when he hit 19 home runs in just 104 games and endeared himself to fans with a hard-charging style that earned him the nickname "Wild Horse." He'd occasionally fall out with teammates and club management over issues such as punctuality and, despite outreach from veteran players, he became increasingly isolated on the Dodgers.
The Dodgers demoted him to the minors in 2016, but he returned to play key roles on their pennant-winning clubs in 2017 and 2018. His agency, Wasserman Group, severed ties with him in February 2018.
It was just days after his second World Series appearance that Puig allegedly assaulted a woman in a Staples Center bathroom during a Los Angeles Lakers game. Puig soon switched agencies, getting represented by Rachel Luba, who was part of the group representing pitcher Trevor Bauer, who finished the 2021 season on administrative leave after two women accused him of non-consensual sexual acts.
With MLB's lockout commencing Dec. 1 and Puig possibly blackballed from the league, anyway, he recently signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Kiwoom Heroes of South Korea's KBO League.