My goodness. Watching paint dry would be more fun than watching Pablo Sandoval play the way he has been over the last year.
Sandoval, 29, formerly played for the San Francisco Giants from 2008 to 2014.
In his time with San Francisco, he was a member of three World Series
champion teams and he was named the 2012 World Series MVP. He also made
the National League All-Star team in 2011 and 2012. With a resume like
this, he seemed like a promising acquisition to any team when his contract was up at the end of the 2014 season.
But that's only by judging his past accomplishments and imagining he has not struggled with his weight throughout his career.
Sandoval finished the 2009 season, his first full season, with a .330 batting average, 25 home runs and 90 runs batted in. Entering the 2009-2010 offseason, he began working on losing weight, as he was estimated at 5'11" tall and weighed about 245 pounds. At this weight, he was not considered extremely obese, but simply just slightly thicker than most Major League Baseball players. Yet, at the end of the 2010 season, he weighed in at 278 pounds. Although it has been said that he was dealing with a messy divorce in 2010, that much of a weight gain is a total let down. There must be reasons he could not put up similar numbers during the 2010 season, in which he hit .268 with 13 home runs and 63 runs batted in. These statistics prompted the Giants to launch "Operation Panda," in which the goal was to put Sandoval in better shape for the 2011 season. Boy, it proved to be effective. He entered 2011 Spring Training weighing in at 240 pounds, which lead to Sandoval having himself a much better season than his last, hitting .315 with 23 homers and 70 runs batted in.
By the end of 2013 season, Sandoval again needed to drop weight in preparation for the 2014 season and did so. But that's needless to say because you can probably tell by now that he has struggled to maintain his weight. He has been tasked to lose weight in several different off-seasons, but he has not always succeeded. On top of that, just about each time he has lost weight, he has gained it back over time. What's going on? Does this guy not learn? Does he not change his eating habits?
Despite these weight concerns, Pablo Sandoval was signed by the Boston Red Sox on November 25, 2014 to a five-year, $95 million contract with a club option worth $17 million or a $5 million buy-out.
Sandoval said that he chose Boston because he wanted to face a challenge. “It was a tough decision for me,” Sandoval said at the time of his signing. “It took me a long time to be sure that I was going to make the right decision. This is similar, but the Giants gave me the opportunity to be in the big leagues. Opened the door, teach me how to respect the game. The Giants fans, one of the best, but in that time I want to close the cycle that I got there.
“But I want a new challenge. I made that choice to be here in Boston because I need a new challenge. The legacy they have here. To show them the fan support they have here. That’s what I wanted to make sure I made the right decision. It took me a long time but I’m happy to show the fans all the support they gave to this team. Now I want to show I came here to give them the support to go into the postseason again.”
Yeah, well, I'm not so sure your wishes are coming true, nor do I believe they ever will if you don't get it together, Pablo.
Let's take a look at how his first season in Boston went. He hit .245 with 10 home runs and 47 runs batted in. This may attribute to the fact that Sandoval began hitting exclusively from the left side of the plate about halfway through the season after struggling mightily from the right side. Nonetheless, he found himself a whole lot less productive than before, hitting more ground balls and less fly balls. All in all, not exactly the numbers a player on a five-year, $95 million contract is expected to produce.
He also embarrassed himself pretty badly last season. Remember when he violated the Major League Baseball cell phone/social media policy and got himself suspended? Nice going, dummy.
Don't even get me started on Pablo when he first arrived to Spring Training back in February of this year.
Holy crap. Here we go again with the weight issues. Only this time, this is probably the biggest anyone has ever seen Pablo. Red Sox manager John Farrell claimed in January that Sandoval lost around 20 pounds during the off-season, yet Sandoval claimed that no one asked him to lose weight. Either way, he looks no different compared to last year if not bigger. This gives us the impression that he is not taking anything seriously.
What's even more frustrating is one of the first interviews he answered questions for in front of his locker this year. When asked if he felt he had a lot to prove in 2016, he said “No, I don’t got nothing to prove. I just prepare myself to perform well, support my teammates and play and try to get to the World Series. That’s what I’m doing.”
I'm sorry, what did he say? He has nothing to prove? Absolutely nothing?
Well, Pablo, I object. Remember what you said when you first signed with the Red Sox in 2014? How you wanted a new challenge and to help the Red Sox back into the postseason? I most certainly do, and it looks like you took that challenge and ate it (no pun intended). You, in fact, do have several things to prove. You have to prove that you are still looking to conquer that challenge, and if this what you want, I think you should also prove that you "prepare yourself to perform well" because last season and your weight say otherwise. Maybe you should lose the attitude while you're at it.
It's no wonder why Sandoval lost his starting job to a freaking rookie, Travis Shaw. I can't tell if I should be laughing at this video.
With Sandoval currently on the disabled list due to a shoulder strain, it's not like the Red Sox are deeply affected. He has been a disappointment, and frankly, an embarrassment to the Red Sox and their fans in his tenure with the team. Not to mention he still has the rest of the 2016 season and three full seasons left on his contract. I seriously hope he either figures things out or goes somewhere else earlier than he is supposed to.
