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MLB San Francisco Giants

Pablo Sandoval Would Be Unwise Not to Re-Sign With San Francisco Giants

By @real_johnshea

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The Pablo Sandoval sweepstakes is about to reach its boiling point, and the San Francisco Giants remain in contention. According to assistant general manager Bobby Evans (via Sirius XM), the Giants are prepared to submit their final offer. Although Evans did not confirm the exact parameters of the Giants’ offer sheet, he implied that it will likely be in the ballpark of five years and $95 million.

Of the three teams vying for Sandoval, no club has submitted an offer that obliterates the competition, which means the “Kung Fu Panda” could form a reunion with the Giants merely by default. Sandoval has already made it known that he’d like to finish his career in orange and black, and although the lure of the Boston Red Sox may be tempting, Sandoval has won three championships in the City by the Bay.

If each of the three offers presented to Sandoval are similar, the “Panda” has no reason to bypass the Giants. Sandoval is an icon in the Bay Area. The level of his popularity in San Francisco cannot be matched in Massachusetts or Southern California, and Sandoval knows this.

The 2012 World Series MVP has dove headfirst into free agency with the objective of acquiring the best contract possible. His ceiling appears to be just short of $100 million, with an average annual salary of roughly $19 million. That’s a solid payday for a guy who drove in just 73 runs in 2014 with only 45 extra-base hits last season.

Sandoval’s value as a switch-hitting third baseman has been inflated this offseason due to a lack of premier talent available on the open market. The “Panda” is about to capitalize on a thin talent pool, and will likely remain in San Francisco. It’s simply the right move for Sandoval to return to the Giants in 2015 and beyond. Whether handing down Hunter Pence-esque money to a guy with hefty weight issues is right for the Giants is debatable.

But for the Giants and Sandoval, this is the perfect storm. The Giants’ front office brass had likely generated multiple contingency plans in August, well after talks had been tabled regarding a potential three-year extension for Sandoval. It didn’t seem likely for the Giants to legitimately contend for the free agent-to-be, given multiple needs across the depth chart.

But then the Giants won their third World Series title in five years, and they did it in large part because of Sandoval’s continued October heroics. Sandoval owns a career .344 postseason batting average over 167 plate appearances. He broke the record for most hits in a single postseason (26) last October, and memorably became the first player in baseball history to bash three home runs in his first three World Series plate appearances in 2012.

Sandoval’s pedigree in October is unprecedented. It’s why he’s commanding more than $18 million per year on the open market. He’s done it all with the Giants, and there’s no reason for him to venture elsewhere. Dollars have equal value in San Francisco and Boston, but legacies are difficult to leave behind.

John Shea is an MLB writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @real_johnshea. Like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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