The Panda returns to the Giants organization, signing a minor league deal that has him playing with San Jose club.
Sandoval apologizes to fans, teammates he denigrated when leaving 3 years ago
SAN FRANCISCO » It was weigh-in day for Pablo Sandoval.
He weighed in on why he spurned the Giants as a free agent three years ago, and how he wished he could take that decision back. He weighed in on the relationship he must repair with former teammates whom he badmouthed out the door. He weighed in on his health, and whether he was giving up switch-hitting for good. (He’s not.)
He weighed in on the second chance he is receiving now that his minor league contract with the Giants became official on Saturday.
“I learned my lesson,” said a svelte and sunny Sandoval, as he greeted reporters in the dugout he once filled with his chatter and custom handshakes. “I apologize to the fans, especially for the things that I said — both the things I said to (them and) my former teammates. There’s a lot of things out there, man.
“But the thing is, I have to be respectful to the Giants organization. They give me the opportunity to be here. Now I get a second chance. I had a lot of special moments here. I have the greatest moments of my career here, so to have a second chance is the most important thing.”
The prodigal Panda will seek to prove himself in the minor leagues, beginning with a start at designated hitter for Class A San Jose on Saturday. He’ll report to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday for what Giants manager
Bruce Bochy expected to be an evaluation period of at least 40 to 50 at-bats.
Sandoval acknowledged he has more to demonstrate than his conditioning, his bat speed or his defense at third base.
“I learned a lot of things, man,” said Sandoval, whom the Boston Red Sox released in the third season of a fiveyear contract even though he’s still owed more than half his $95 million guaranteed salary.
“I’m more mature. I respect more the game as I should. In baseball … you don’t stop learning until it’s over. If you don’t have good people around you, it’s going to be the worst thing for you.
“I have to prove a lot of things, man. I’m happy to be back. I’ll do the best to get in good shape and be with my teammates like old times.”
Old times were the best of times, for both Sandoval and the Giants. He was named MVP of the 2012 World Series after hitting three home runs in Game 1 against the Tigers’ Justin Verlander. He caught the foul pop that clinched Game 7 of the 2014 World Series in Kansas City.
Before the champagne dried, he distanced himself from the organization that signed and developed him. He told friends even during the victory parade that he was about to ghost the Giants. The spring after he signed with the Red Sox, Sandoval was quoted as saying he wouldn’t miss anyone in San Francisco except for manager Bruce Bochy and right fielder Hunter Pence.
Asked to clarify those comments on Saturday, Sandoval said it was a miscommunication — but only a partial one.
“If I meant that I missed Bochy and Hunter, it’s the guys I’d been joking around with most,” Sandoval said. “Hunter is like my brother, and Bochy is like my dad. But at the end of the day, I missed all the guys. I missed all the team. The fan support is the greatest.
“So … a miscommunication? Yes, but at the end of the day, I was emotional. So I learned a lot of things from that. I learned a lot of lessons.”
Why did he come back now, to a place where he knew he would face the awkward task of repairing relationships? Why not try to make a clean start in someone else’s minor league system?
“Why here? Five years, three rings. Three World Series. Dynasty,” Sandoval said, staring into the cameras. “The fan support. What else? The team. Manager. Teammates. Everything. It’s where I came from, you know. I grew up here. Now I’ve got a second chance to be here. I have to make the right decision. This one is the right decision. This is where I always love to play so I’m here.”
In a somewhat startling statement, Sandoval said that re-signing with the Giants after the 2014 World Series would’ve been the right decision, too.
“(I was) emotional, a lot of things happened,” Sandoval said. “I wish I could get back to that time to get the opportunity to sign again. I would sign it. But it’s past. It’s past. I’m moving forward right now to do the best.
“Give me another chance. I’m here. That’s the most important thing. I’m here to show them that I am ready for it.”
Sandoval didn’t make it clear whether he individually apologized to former teammates on Saturday, although he gave bullpen catcher Eli Whiteside a bear hug as soon as he walked into the clubhouse. He dropped his Red Sox duffel bag in an empty locker between those belonging to Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford.
This reunion, with all its emotional entanglements, wouldn’t be happening if the Giants weren’t 3861 — their worst record through 99 games in the club’s San Francisco era — and Sandoval weren’t a virtually free player. The Red Sox are on the hook for the roughly $49.5 million owed to him through 2019, minus whatever prorated portion of the major league minimum salary ($513,000) he would be paid by another club.
Sandoval is no doubt aware that the Giants are staring at a total void at third base in the near future, if they trade away Eduardo Nuñez as expected prior to the July 31 deadline. They have a dearth of position players to fill out the roster at Triple-A Sacramento, as well; even top prospect Christian Arroyo will be out till at least September because of a fractured hand.
There is desperation on both sides, and there’s nobody else left at the bar. “It’s a free look at a player who’s done some good things in this game and has talent to hit a baseball,” Bochy said. “Sometimes a change of scenery can get a player back to where he was, and he was pretty good here.”
Sandoval, who passed a physical, looked to be in relatively good shape. He said he is healthy following shoulder surgery. There won’t be a DH as a fallback spot with the Giants, though. He will have to prove his entire game, Bochy said.
Bochy spent several minutes talking with Sandoval in the manager’s office Saturday morning, but he didn’t seek an explanation or apology for how the former All-Star left the club.
“I didn’t feel like that was a priority today,” Bochy said.
Sandoval did not weigh in on one matter: the whereabouts of the final out ball from 2014 — the one that Madison Bumgarner has said he wouldn’t mind having for safe keeping, and one that the Panda was rumored to have sold.