Sandoval Seeking $100M, Wants to Stay In SF

Back in April and May when he was uncharacteristically struggling and batting south of .200, Pablo Sandoval might have been wondering whether he made the right call turning down the Giants' multiyear offer in spring training.
 
But now that he's a three-time World Series winner with a .426 career World Series batting average, there can be no second thoughts about that.
 
Sandoval was seeking north of $100 million even in spring and those lean early months, as was written here. So of course he is still seeking the same type of money -- at least -- now that he is officially a free agent and coming off his World Series heroics.
 
As things stand now, he looks like the top free-agent position player in a rather thin field beyond the top few players.
 
Victor Martinez is great, of course, one of the best hitters in the game. But he's 36. Hanley Ramirez is a fantastic talent, no question about that. But his timing isn't the best: He had a huge year and a half in late 2012 plus 2013 for the Dodgers, but wasn't quite as good this past year.
 
As for timing, Sandoval, who just turned 28 in August, well, his couldn't be better.

Sandoval had a solid regular season after his awful start, batting .279 with 16 home runs and 73 RBI, but where he does his best work is the postseason. In October games, he is a .344 career hitter with a .545 slugging percentage.
 
The Red Sox are among teams expected to make a big play for Sandoval, and they definitely could use his power. While the Yankees seem more focused on their own third base guy, Chase Headley, they will likely at least put in a call.
 
But it's still hard to see Sandoval playing anywhere besides San Francisco. And, for the record, he'd like nothing more than to remain a Giant.
 
"He loves the city. He loves the team. He loves the fans," Vazquez said. "And he wants to stay."
 
The Giants have done a better job keeping their players than anybody else (they've obviously done a better job with a lot of things lately than anybody else). They locked up stars Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Hunter Pence, Matt Cain and Angel Pagan to long-term deals, and they will try again with Sandoval.
 
It's believed the Giants offered a three-year guarantee for about $40 million back in spring, and the sides haven't spoken about the contract since (they've obviously been pretty busy lately). But no one should take that to mean they aren't interested. They will try again.

 

Click to expand...

elcheato said:

Mediocre power, doesn't get on base at that amazing of a rate, above average contact hitter. 3 years 40 million even seems maybe a little bit too much. 

Click to expand...