Boston Red Sox: Could Pablo Sandoval be the DH in 2017?
By Tyler Mason
If the Boston Red Sox fail to sign Edwin Encarnacion or any other big time free agent as their DH in 2017, could Pablo Sandoval handle the role?
Dare we go down this road again? Give Pablo Sandoval one last chance and see if he can be an asset to the 2017 Boston Red Sox?
With all the rumors swirling already that the Red Sox should sign free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion, hopefully we won’t need to think about that option of Sandoval.
Encarnacion is coming off arguably his best season so far in his 12 year career where he tied a career high in home runs (42) and led the American League in RBI’s (127).
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Along with that, if the Red Sox were to sign him, he has shown a lot of success at Fenway Park in his career. In 50 career games at Fenway, he has hit 14 home runs and has driven in 41 RBI’s while accumulating a slash of .286/.369/.524. Now imagine what his numbers would be like if he played a full 81 games there per season and not worry about playing the field. It seems like he could pepper the Green Monster almost every at bat.
Like I stated before, with Encarnacion coming off one of his best seasons in his career, he’s going to probably ask for a good chunk of change. Now we all know that President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski isn’t afraid to throw huge amounts of money at a player he wants, but what if Encarnacion decides to stay in Toronto or go somewhere other than Boston?
Could Sandoval be the next option?
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Think about it, you’re already paying the guy $17 million/year throughout the 2020 season, and until he shows that he can contribute to a ball club, you won’t be able to trade him.
I believe that if Sandoval became the DH for the 2017 season, we would see more good than bad.
First of all, it avoids any third base controversy heading into Spring Training with Sandoval and Travis Shaw. Also, I am a big believer that if an everyday fielder changes to a DH, you will see a clear increase in the players offensive numbers because he is just working on hitting, that is of course if the Panda can stay committed.
And besides, after seeing Sandoval looking like an actual Panda playing the hot corner, do you really want him to play the field?
The 2017 Boston Red Sox are going to look weird not having David Ortiz in the lineup everyday. But if he can pass the torch to either Encarnacion, Sandoval or any other potential power hitter, Red Sox fans would be more than happy.
Next: Arizona Fall League update
This could be Sandoval’s last chance to show all of Boston that he can contribute with this team. If he can’t, then he may have a better career starting his own cooking show on the Food Network.