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Red Sox Rumor: Sending Sandoval To Giants A Good Move

By Evan Cook

Sep 24, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval (48) works out prior the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval (48) works out prior the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Giants Could Be Interested In Trading For Red Sox 3B Pablo Sandoval

It came out earlier this week that the San Francisco Giants would be interested in trading for Red Sox 3rd basemen Pablo Sandoval. If the Red Sox were to pull this off, it might be the end of the world.

This trade would basically be the Dodgers trade all over again. A major contract dump for nothing in return. A reset button for the organization. To begin with, you would be trading him along with about $40 million dollars (there is $58 million left on his deal) just to get him out of town, and that’s it. You might get a tier B prospect but other than that, you’re getting nothing.

Say you do get him out of town, Shaw would be the obvious replacement you would go with at 3B for opening day against the Pirates. But how far behind is Yoan Moncada. At Portland last year, he looked like the next Barry Bonds with how jacked he is and his ability to hit the extra base hit. When he was called up to Boston in September he looked, well, bad.

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Moncada can’t hit a curveball for the life of him. He looks a lot like Lars Anderson. Remember him? The big 1st baseman that was ahead of Anthony Rizzo in the minor league depth chart. Yea he’s been playing at AA/AAA in the Dodgers organization the last few years. I bet you thought he was out of baseball. I certainly did.

By trading Sandoval back to San Francisco you’re betting that Moncada will learn to hit a major league curveball or that Rafael Devers will end up being a success. With Devers being 20 and Moncada being 21, it is still super early to determine if they will be a real major league players.

Your options if you were to trade Sandoval is putting Shaw at 3rd which we have seen isn’t the best option. He’s been poor defensively and has looked lost at the plate when you throw him a high fastball. You could sign Edwin Encarnación and put Hanley at 3rd but it’s not a good call to do that (mainly for Hanley) and your DH would just be on a rotating basis.

I’m all for trading Pablo mainly because, as we’ve seen, Moncada appears to be the real deal based on what we’ve seen in the minors. Why clog the position for Moncada when you have Sandoval who’s over paid, overweight, and you don’t know what you’re going to get from him?

Assuming Pablo is the starting 3rd basemen on opening day for the Red Sox and he plays 150 games. His batting line has to be higher than it was in 2015. He’s just too talented not to have numbers better than that.

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But I just don’t see his numbers getting better. His weight is too much of a question mark for him. Send him back to San Francisco where he’s comfortable and have Shaw starting at 3rd with Marrero playing once or so a week until Moncada is ready.

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