The Giants are still counting their lucky stars that Pablo Sandoval spurned their $100-million offer three years ago to head to Boston and the American League. Sandoval was designated for assignment Friday by the Red Sox after a little more than two underwhelming seasons with the club.
Immediately, as the internet hype machine is prone to do, speculation about a dirt-cheap reunion between Pablo and his former club began flying. Now, there’s been some concrete word on the issue, and it appears as though at least one party is interested in reuniting.
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Sandoval would “love” to return to the team he spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with.
panda would love to go back to the #SFGiants, & a reunion may not be as crazy as you'd think. https://t.co/eT0MkrCmb2
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 15, 2017
“People close to Sandoval say he would ‘love’ to go back to the Giants, no matter what he said shortly after he exited San Francisco, where he had some memorably-spectacular October moments and also a few rocky times, as well,” Heyman wrote.
It’s easy to remember the final impression that the Panda left on Giants’ fans when he left in 2014. He told Bleacher Report that he would only miss two people on the entire team, Bruce Bochy and Hunter Pence. They’re both still around, but so are a host of other players that were left off that list by Sandoval.
Sandoval figures to clear waivers and not be traded in the next nine days, which is how long the Red Sox have to try to swing a deal for him now that he’s been DFA’d. Boston will be on the hook for nearly $50 million of Sandoval’s remaining deal, and it figures that anyone who signs the 30-year-old wouldn’t have to spend much at all to secure his services.
As for the Giants’ interest in their former player, Heyman said the team has had discussions about bringing back the two-time All-Star.
“Word is that some Giants people have spoken behind the scenes about the possibility, and they suggest it could be a consideration – though officially, they aren’t talking about it,” Heyman wrote.
It’s been three years since Sandoval had anything resembling a productive season at the plate, but it was in 2014 in San Francisco. Sandoval hit .279 with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs that year. In 161 games over three seasons with Boston, Sandoval didn’t even hit those marks, batting just .247 with 14 homers and 59 RBIs while playing for the Red Sox.
Even in 20 games at AAA this season, Sandoval struggled to put anything together as he hit just .221. But with Christian Arroyo hurt for an extended period and Eduardo Nunez a candidate to be moved in the next two weeks, there could be an opening at third base that makes a cheap flier on Pablo worth a shot. It seems like at least Sandoval is interested in giving it a shot.