The Giants fresh off of their third world series in the last five years can enjoy it for now but that have a major dilemma coming up when the winter meetings begin. Should they bring back Pablo Sandoval or let him walk as a free agent?
During his tenure in San Francisco Sandoval has been a more than serviceable third baseman. Despite his size he is very quick on his feet and fields his position very well. He is has also been one of the most consistent hitting third baseman in baseball during his tenure. He is a career .294 hitter who has only failed to reach double digit homeruns once in his career and that was his rookie season in which he only played in 41 games. He has never reached 100 RBI or 100 runs, but batting in a Giants lineup not known for it’s run scoring potential makes that a difficult task.
Sandoval has been a consistent hitter in the middle of the order the Giants order for years but perhaps his biggest contributions come in the postseason where he has really excelled. In 154 career at bats Sandoval is a .344 hitter with six homeruns, 20 RBI and 21 runs scored. He has really excelled on the biggest stage ( the World Series) where Sandoval has batted .426, hit three of his post season homeruns and collected one postseason MVP. A player who can produce like this in the playoffs is very difficult to find, making Sandoval a very valuable commodity and somebody the Giants should look into keeping.
Sandoval also isn’t looking to overboard as some free agents have in recent years. He is seeking a six year deal but considering that he is 28 that is very reasonable as that only takes him to his age 34 year. He doesn’t have a specific dollar amount, but one would assume it would be around the 100 million dollar mark for a player of his caliber.
Besides the production off the field Sandoval has also been a fan favorite off of the field. Many fans show up to the stadium wearing Panda masks due to his nickname “The Kung Fu Panda”. Simply put, Sandoval sells tickets and is a marketable player that will help bring more revenue to whatever team decides to sign him.
Based off of his production and rather reasonable contract expectations the Giants should strongly consider resigning the panda. Middle of the order batters, who produce as well as Sandoval does in the postseason are hard to come by, and it would be very difficult for the Giants to replace him in a free agent market that has a huge drop-off after Pablo. The Giants would be crazy not to negotiate with Sandoval who has meant so much to the franchise over the last couple of seasons.