Kung Fu Panda.
The Round Mound of Pound.
Little Money.
Pablo Sandoval goes by many nicknames, but to Cardinals fans his presence in October has been less welcome than a priest by your hospital bed. We call him The Reaper.
If you can’t beat ’em… have them join you?
That’s been the chorus line coming from a faction of The Nation ever since the ’14 campaign ended and we looked ahead to what the team should be doing in the off-season. I know you’ve got questions, so let’s try to answer them.
Pablo Sandoval, huh?
Yes. Pablo Sandoval.
But don’t we already have a third baseman?
The Cubs had a different manager last week, too. HI-YO!
But yes, we do have a 3B. Matt Carpenter. Who’s pretty good. But Marp can pretty much play anywhere on the field and if Sandoval comes to the Cardinals, he can slide over to RF pretty easily and be average if not a plus fielder there.
Come to think of it, why the hell do the Giants not want to keep Sandoval?
Got to be honest here, that’s a good question.
Sandoval will become a free agent after extension talks with the Giants broke down at the beginning of the season. He rejected a reported 3/yr 40M extension and is looking for a reported 5/yr 90M-ish deal.
According to Cots, the Giants have 127M of payroll already obligated for 2015. So adding another 18M/yr in the short term would be painful. In 2016 they slide down to 87M and then 73M in 2017. So they’re likely looking at the pain incurred in 2015 if they don’t re-sign Sandoval.
Factor in their questions about his motivation after he gets paid and his overall physical fitness concerns and I think the Giants are making a business decision, since his on-field contributions in the postseason are noteworthy.
So 18M per season? That’s the price?
Probably. The Red Sox have shown some interest. So that’s going to drive up the price (or at least justify the asking price). But at 18M/yr, it would make Sandoval the 2nd highest paid Cardinals player in 2015:
- Wainwright 19.5M
- Sandoval 18M
- Holliday 17M
- Molina 15.2M
Does that look funny to you? (Side note, Cardinals only have 2M of payroll committed in 2020!) It looks kind of funny to me. But the Cardinals do need a bat. Remember they were near the bottom of most offensive stats in 2014.
What exactly would we be getting for that 18M/yr?
Over his career, Sandoval’s regular per 162 games played looks like this:
- .294 BA
- .465 SLG
- 86 RBIs
- .811 OPS
- 20 HRs
- 176 HITS
So shave a bit off of all of those numbers (assuming he plays 145-150 games) and you’ve got your Pablo Sandoval. Last year he was a 3.0 oWAR and 0.6 dWAR player.
HOWEVAH!
When you look at his postseason numbers, things get cray:
- World Series BA? .426
- 10 post seasons, his total BA? .344
- Total postseason hits? 53
- Total postseason RBIs? 20
If you take out a poor 2010 postseason series against ATL in the NLDS and the numbers go even higher. So even though there’s no such thing as ‘clutch’ in advanced metrics, Sandoval has proven that he’s his best self in October.
Is this really going to happen?
He just turned 28, so Sandoval is in the prime of his career. He’s made it known that he wants full price. And he’s coming off his third World Series win in five years.
He’ll probably get full price.
Meaning the Cardinals aren’t going to get Pablo Sandoval.
It’s a nice thought, and not one without merit. Sandoval would be a nice addition to the Cardinals in 2015. But the fact that he’s going to be a premium product AND you’ll have to move a very important piece of the Cardinals team for the 3rd time in 3 years? It’s just not happening.
Let’s just hope the big guy lands in place where well never have to see him hacking all over the place during the postseason.
Photo: FOX News
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