While San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval is out here playing his heart out to win a third World Series championship in five seasons, there stands a decent chance that the final game of the series against the Kansas City Royals will be his last in a Giants uniform.
Sandoval, 28, is set to become a free agent this winter. And while he has played great baseball when it counts the most, there is some within the Giants organization that believe he’s simply not the individual you give a long-term contract to.
So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that Sandoval and the Giants have not discussed an extension since Spring Training (via CBS Sports).
According to Jon Heyman, the Giants will still extend a $15.3 million qualifying offer to Sandoval this offseason. This offer would pretty much be for the sake of gaining draft pick compensation should Sandoval sign with another team. There is no chance that he agrees to a one-year deal.
And as Heyman reports, the two sides differ on the length of a potential contract.
The Giants and Sandoval weren’t on the same page in spring, with the team said to be most interested in a three-year deal at the time, and Sandoval looking for something in the nine-figure range, as was reported here early in the season.
The Boston Red Sox, who are said to be willing to potentially dole out a nice amount of cash to free agents this upcoming offseason, are rumored to be interested in the former World Series MVP.
Sandoval hit .279 with 16 homers and 73 RBI’s this past regular season. The third baseman is hitting .327 with three RBI’s thus far this postseason.
Photo: NY Times