Pablo Sandoval Exemplifies Past Red Sox Frivolous Signings
By Blake Yagman
Pablo Sandoval is resurrecting the ghosts of Red Sox past each and every time he takes the field.
Few belts have endured such a pull… no, not Pablo Sandoval’s belt, but that of Boston Red Sox owner John Henry. With each bad signing, dating as far back as the regime of former GM Theo Epstein, Henry’s metaphorical fiscal belt has become one notch tighter. Epstein’s teams won three World Series, of course, but the sheer amount of money they spent was breathtaking.
At the very least, the ways the Red Sox have wasted money are creative. Over $50,000,000 was paid simply to acquire the rights to negotiate with pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Carl Crawford signed a $142,000,000 contract with the Red Sox before deciding he absolutely hated Boston. In 2006, the gave shortstop Julio Lugo a 4 year, $36,000,000 deal to look legitimately terrified every time he stepped into the batters box.
Horrifyingly enough, the team even tried to assume Alex Rodriguez’ contract from the Rangers in exchange for Manny Ramirez… but Major League Baseball killed the deal because the Red Sox were attempting to off-set too much money!
Today, the Red Sox are saddled by the contracts $88,000,000 and $95,000,000 issued to Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval in 2015, respectively. Hanley has adjusted and made every effort to place a subpar 2015 season behind him, Ramirez is currently hitting .400 through six games.
Sandoval however, has seemingly made no such effort, he is hitless at this point in the season and provides minimal defensive value. Culminating with the explosion of Sandoval’s belt mid-swing on Saturday, the now-benched third baseman has become the butt of Red Sox nation.
The difference between the Sandoval signing of late, and the previous Red Sox money-burning parties, is that the 2016 Red Sox organization is strong enough to bear the brunt of this mistake.
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Spared by the emergence of third baseman Travis Shaw, Red Sox manager John Farrell has to be wondering what the organization plans to do with Sandoval. (He is still sitting on the bench, after all.) Pablo’s natural transition would likely be to first base, but is blocked by the team moving Hanley Ramirez to first over the off-season. Designated Hitter, at least for this season, is occupied; compounded by Sandoval’s worst offensive year of his career last season (.245/.292/.366, 10 HR, 47 RBI).
Luckily, the Red Sox farm system hosts a wealth of young, offensive talent which could help to make Sandoval even more expendable. Sox prospects include: OF Andrew Benintendi, who is hitting well at High-A (.313, 11 HR, 31 RBI last season), Cuban phenom 2B Yoan Moncada (.278, 49 SB, 8 HR, 38 RBI last season), and slugging 3B Rafael Devers (.288, 11 HR, 76 RBI last season). They could also serve as trade-chips to upgrade the 3B position over what is offered by Shaw or Sandoval.
Signings such as Sandoval (and Lugo, Drew, Matsuzaka, Jenks, Clement, Renteria) still cost John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group a significant amount of money, are tremendously difficult to unload onto other teams, and can hurt the chemistry of teams. The Red Sox, who undeniably have money to spend, need to spend differently.