Pablo Sandoval Eats Crow; Wishes He Stayed with San Francisco Giants

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. That was certainly the case for Pablo Sandoval when it comes to the San Francisco Giants.

Within the past two weeks, Pablo Sandoval has gotten cut by the Boston Red Sox and then picked up by the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are Sandoval’s former team and competed with the Red Sox to sign him when he was a free agent in the winter of 2014.

Sandoval chose the Red Sox, proceeded to forget how to play baseball, didn’t watch his weight, and ended ups having the Sox eat the rest of his contract just not to have him on the team.

His time in Boston was forgettable and he’s widely thought of as the worst free agent signing in Red Sox history.

Recently, Sandoval admitted that he wished he’d re-signed with the Giants. For fun, let’s compare Sandoval’s remarks from 2015, per Bleacher Report.

"“Not hard at all,” Pablo Sandoval told Bleacher Report during an early-morning conversation here the other day. “If you want me around, you make the effort to push and get me back.”[…]“The Giants made a good offer, but I didn’t want to take it,” he said. “I got five years (and $95 million) from Boston. I left money on the table in San Francisco.[…]“Only Bochy,” Sandoval said of Giants manager Bruce Bochy [responding to who he’ll miss on his former team]. “I love Boch. He’s like my dad. He’s the only guy that I miss. And Hunter Pence. Just those guys.”"

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So in that interview, it sounds as if the person saying this is off to bigger and better things, right? He will most definitely be batting over .300 and hitting north of 25 home runs every year! He seems like he’s pretty good!

Well, that’s not how it turned out.

In his first season, he batted .245 in 126 games. Last season, he only had seven plate appearances after showing up to Spring Training looking like he worked out right beside the all-you-can-eat buffet at Golden Corral.

This year was arguably even more of a disaster. After saying that he got “complacent” with his $95 million deal, he went on to bat .212 in just 32 games.

When the Giants recently picked him up, Sandoval said this about the team he had once bad-mouthed.

"“I have always loved and appreciated the Giants organization, my Giants teammates and the fans of San Francisco. I have so many great memories, and I want to thank the organization for giving me another chance to come back here. When I left the Giants in 2014, my comments were emotional, insensitive and misguided, and I truly regret and apologize for my actions. I am committed to working hard to contributing to the success of the Giants.”"

If that wasn’t enough of him eating crow, here’s some more.

So it’s clear that he regrets his time in Boston. And so do Red Sox fans.

The bottom line is that Sandoval was a bum during his time in Boston. The Red Sox brought him in for a couple of reasons, the least of which being his regular season performance.

When the Sox signed him to the mammoth $95 million deal, Sandoval had never hit above 25 home runs. He’d only hit above 80 RBI once, and that was back in 2009.

The reason for the Red Sox putting so much money into the contract was because of his marketability, the relevancy he’d bring back to Boston (stay tuned for a piece on that), and his postseason performance.

There’s no denying that Sandoval’s numbers in the postseason are incredible. What team wouldn’t want that? He’s a career .344 hitter in the World Series and is a three-time World Series champion.

Also, his nickname is “Panda”. For a team that cares more about marketability and money rather than performance on the field, the Red Sox ate this up. At the time of the signing, Red Sox ownership was foaming at the mouth at the thought of selling Panda hats, shirts, and merchandise.

The bottom line is that after getting released, Sandoval was forced to eat crow by going back to the team he had publicly bashed after signing with Boston.

Before joining the San Francisco Giants, he will play in Triple-A to get some more plate appearances under his belt.

Next: Orioles reversing course again

Let’s hope that belt doesn’t break open again.