Third baseman Pablo Sandoval’s reunion with the Giants this season has been a disaster from a statistical standpoint, as the former franchise linchpin has batted just .213/.253/.346 in 146 plate appearances in his return to the Bay Area. Nevertheless, the Giants seem primed to keep Sandoval on their 40-man roster into next spring, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Factors working in Sandoval’s favor include his inexpensive price tag – the 31-year-old has a club option for 2018 worth the league minimum – and manager Bruce Bochy’s favorable opinion of him. Bochy said Saturday that the Sandoval experiment has “gone well,” and he praised the former member of the Red Sox for his defensive work at both corner infield positions. Because injuries frequently kept Sandoval out of action during his nightmarish stint in Boston from 2015-17, he’ll play winter ball during the upcoming offseason in an effort to make up for some of the missed time. After that, it appears he’ll have an opportunity in spring training to earn a spot on San Francisco’s 25-man roster.
- The Tigers announced that reliever Alex Wilson suffered a broken right leg (a non-displaced fibular fracture, to be exact) in their game against the Twins on Saturday. The injury occurred in the eighth inning when a 103.8 mph line drive off Joe Mauer’s bat struck Wilson. Wilson’s now facing a three-month recovery, giving him plenty of time to work back to full strength by next spring, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets. The 30-year-old right-hander logged 60 innings of 4.50 ERA ball and posted 6.3 K/9 against 2.25 BB/9 in 2017. Wilson, who earned $1.18MM this year, is scheduled to make his second trip through arbitration over the winter.
- Royals manager Ned Yost tells Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com that the team will consider using the athletic Raul Mondesi in center field next season. Mondesi has only played the middle infield in the majors since debuting last year, but he could help the club fill impending free agent Lorenzo Cain’s void should the standout center fielder depart in the offseason. It may be wishful thinking for the Royals, though, as the 22-year-old Mondesi has batted an ugly .178/.224/.265 in 206 plate appearances in the majors. Mondesi did provide some reason for hope at the Triple-A level this year, however, with a .305/.340/.539 line, 13 home runs and 21 stolen bases across 357 PAs.
- Separate stints on the disabled list have kept Mariners ace James Paxton out for approximately two months this year and limited him to 124 2/3 innings. In an effort to ward off injuries in 2018, Paxton will undergo body and blood testing in the offseason to find diet and workout regimens that suit him, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. Paxton has pitched to a 3.03 ERA and registered 10.25 K/9 against 2.67 BB/9 this year, which are the type of numbers that could make him a Cy Young contender over a full season of work.
“Nevertheless, the Giants seem primed to keep Sandoval on their 40-man roster into next spring, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports.”
Because why not, they’re screwed for ’18 anyway.
You should know better than to count the Giants out during even Years.
These days baseball fans seem to spout either statistics or numerology.
My friend, it was a joke. Lighten up. And those 3 WS did seemingly come out of nowhere.
In 2010, few expected Giants to make the playoffs, but they did winning their first WS since 1954, while still in New York, and moving move to SF in 1958.
In 2012, the Giants became the first NL team to come back from a 2-0 deficit winning three straight against Reds in the 2012 NLDS.
In 2014 they were the first team in baseball modern era to qualify for the postseason under 90 wins.
Numerology? Nobody can predict the game of baseball and I’m not even a Giants fan, or Sabermetrician, any stretch of the imagination.
Just making a light-hearted joke. You should focus on not spouting replies based off comments taken out of context.
Every part of that joke was designed to cheer up SF fans, because Giants track record past 10 years has been impressive, to say the least.
I’ve told you the context of my post, but I’m still trying to figure out what is the point of ‘spouting’ that comment. Dodgers in a better place right now. Why so bitter?
Lol this surprises me coming from you BlueSkyLA. (read many of your posts, I truly believe, you’re one of the most objective fans here, who always posts good stuff)
The 2006 Cardinals were 83-78 and won the WS, so your 2014 statement is a little untrue. And several teams in the “modern era” made the playoffs under 90 wins…Need to do better research
Well.. 2/3 ain’t bad. but You’re right. Here is my source. “The Giants finished the regular season 88-74, the first time in the modern era they will go to the postseason with fewer than 90 wins.”
sfgate.com/giants/article/Giants-win-regular-final…
Dam you SFGate.com.
Can SF Giants fans at least let me know if I fell for a fake news site?
Ohh wait a second, it was in THEIR history, not MLB history.
Yay I was half-right. I’m sorry guys, I completely misinterpreted the article.
thanks for being honest about it. you made a mistake and admitted it. we need more people like this
1987 Twins only one 85 games in the regular season to go on and win the World Series. That was pre-wild card team.
Oops, should have read all comments before adding to it…
My comment was a joke too, so lighten up yourself, my friend.
The problem is this is a hard. Ore statistically driven web site. Their is no time for jokes on this website. Most of the people here who tend to reply act like they are the greatest staticuans in baseball and humor is not allowed. It’s actually annoying how people think they so much better because they know some stats. I enjoyed the humor but other feel that in this website it’s not allowed. People need to get off the computer or phones sometimes and communicate with others to learn the difference between sarcasm and reality. Freaking annoying.
Well Sarcasm is hard to decipher through text.
And you are a Dodgers fan.. (Rivarly’s deep)
But Regardless whether or not you were kidding, Im still one of your biggest fans LA, and I really want you to know nothing personal bud!
I’m a humble guy who didn’t know any of this information before yesterday (had to look all of it up)
I just know Giants are low-key good and I respect them for it. And who doesn’t love baseball anomalies? (even made playoffs ‘16 😉 )
Just my sarcasm, not yours? Hah. Okay no harm/no foul.
Now that we’re not trying to decipher each other’s attempts at humor, my comment was meant to be facetious but only to a point. Discussions here seem to ricochet between the totally data driven and the metaphysical. If a reason for why a team doesn’t win can’t be found in stats, we start hearing completely unprovable theories about how it all comes down to “chemistry.” The huge gulf in between data and the touchy-feely seem like the unexplored country.
Lol sorta like my Tigers! Oh wait were screwed for alot longer
Bochy is out-of-touch and borderline senile if he thinks the experiment has “gone well.”
You can’t lose anything when you’ve got nothing to lose. So in that sense it has gone well.
Perhaps Bochy meant “gone [down the] well.”
Lol, he’s not going to trash a guy on the roster of his own org, let alone any other professional. He’s been around for a while.
He has been playing well defensively and good power seems to be coming back, both of which were lost in Boston. He it’s swinging and missing too much still but I assume that it’s why they are sending him to Winter ball and giving him a chance in spring. With him being so cheap, why not give him a chance to compete with arroyo and others.. also who knows who gets moved in the off-season, if belt or panik get moved you gotta fill out a roster
Gotta sell that Panda merchandise!
I’d like to congratulate Sandoval on being one of only a few players disliked on both coasts.
I’d like to congratulate Sandoval on making a lot of money to do a terrible job, seriously…..The Twinkie defense
Sandoval said that his poor performance in Boston was partly because he “missed” San Francisco. Guess that theory goes up in smoke.
He very well may have missed San Francisco, but that doesn’t mean that’s why he sucked. He’s one of a plethora of players to catch a lot of crap in Boston and claim it effected him. Some it seems like it actually did, others it didn’t. In his case, he just seems to be a bad athlete and trying to jump on the bandwagon.
It’s not hard to be disliked in Boston, but he really aced that.
Who cares Bruce Maxwells a goat
No, just no.
Since it is a club option that means the Sox still pay for all but the league minimum, but had they not exercised the option would Boston have been off the hook for the salary?
I think they would just be responsible for the buyout
Boston had to pay the contract either way. Now, with the Giants paying him at the league minimum in 2018, that sum will be subtracted from what the Sox owe.
Basically, the Red Sox will save $540K or so if the Giants do pick him up.
Which explains, in part, why Ben Cherington is no longer employed by the Red Sox.
Got it, thanks.
The only way bringing in Panda has gone well, is by ensuring they don’t win too many games and compromise their draft position.
Otherwise, Bochy is completely and utterly nuts.
Things don’t look good in San Fran going forward – the farm is a mess, the big league roster is devoid of talent, and the Manager thinks terrible production is in fact the opposite.
Unfortunately, those three WS wins covered up a lot of that stuff. The Giants haven’t been particularly good at developing outfielders, especially, and players in general, and that, along with the predictable pitching injuries that ended the careers of Cain, Lincecum, etc. put them in a bad place. Even if we can assume some positive regression from Samardzija and Cueto, along with a full season of Bumgarner, the lineup isn’t great anywhere except behind the plate.
Belt is a very good hitter but fans and management seem to have turned on him, most disturbingly seeming to blame him for his four concussions. Panik is a 1980s second-baseman in an era in which second basemen usually do a little more offensively. He’s basically Jody Reed, and that’s useful if you have a lot of big bats in the lineup, but the Giants don’t. I don’t know what happened to Crawford this season, but I wouldn’t count him out completely. Sandoval is obviously done, Pence is probably getting there. Span is cooked; he might be okay as a fourth outfielder except he can’t throw. Pence was truly awful this year. It ‘s a grim outlook but they seem to have money to spend and no interest in a rebuild.
his ops is below 600 he gotta go
Leaving Sandoval in the line-up is like putting a position player in to pitch. It’s usually late in the game when its a blowout, and you don’t want to waste your bullpen on the rest of the game. The Giants are way out of contention, and hit the below-500 mark back in August, so why not have some fun?