The Red Sox have signed free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval to a five-year contract, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The deal is believed to be worth about $100 million. Though Sandoval's agent denied the report's accuracy early Monday morning, per Alex Speier of WEEI, the deal later Monday was agreed to and is pending a physical, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pablo Sandoval agrees to a 5-year, $100 million deal with Boston, per reports
The Red Sox didn’t rest on the news of signing Haney Ramirez. They’re reportedly adding third baseman Pablo Sandoval as well.
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Red Sox have not yet officially announced the deal.
Boston was linked to Sandoval dating back to this summer, so the agreement doesn’t come as a huge surprise. GM Ben Cherington identified adding a left-handed bat as one of the club’s top priorities this offseason and the addition of Sandoval should help the Red Sox offense recover in 2015.
Sandoval is a big upgrade for a Boston team that struggled offensively en route to a last-place finish in 2014. A year after leading all of baseball in runs, the Red Sox scored the fourth-fewest runs in the AL, due in part to a lack of dependable options at third base. Will Middlebrooks struggled against big-league pitching for the second straight year, and Boston had no one else to fill the gap.
The 28-year-old Sandoval comes with his fair share of risks, however. He batted .279/.324/.415 this past season, seeing his OPS+ decline for the third straight year. Sandoval did chip in with 45 extra-base hits, including 16 home runs, but both his on-base and slugging percentages approached career-low marks.
In addition, Sandoval’s ongoing weight issues make him an even riskier investment. With the Panda set to turn 29 next August, how his skill set will age (as much defensively as at the plate) remains an open question.
Regardless, Sandoval will give Boston a boost in the short-term. Fenway Park should be a good fit and is far friendlier to hitters than AT&T Park, which Sandoval has called home for seven years.
Even with his recent decline in performance, however, the Venezuelan native remains an above-average hitter, and someone whose performance has been nothing short of spectacular on the big stage of October. A switch hitter, Sandoval is far better from the left side of the plate, having hit .304/.357/.493 against righties and .270/.317/.391 against lefties throughout his career.
Sandoval is a good fit for the Red Sox, and while the end of his contract might not be pretty, Boston gets an immediate upgrade at a position that has been a problem spot of late.
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