Red Sox: 5 sleepers to watch for on the 2017 roster
In contrast to Mitch Moreland, Pablo Sandoval signed with the Red Sox carrying lofty expectations. A World Series MVP and 3-time champion, Sandoval has been an unmitigated disaster since leaving the Giants. He has one of the worst contracts in baseball and the most to prove of any player on the roster.
The Sandoval-Boston experience has not worked two years into his 5-year, $95 million deal and because of that, his expectations are at an all-time low. He’ll never give the Red Sox back they paid for after being worth -1.1 WAR in his first two seasons and $60 million left on his contract, but he should bounce back a little bit this season.
Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projection system doesn’t expect Sandoval to be an overly productive player in 2017, but he’ll at least bring something positive to the table. His system projects Sandoval to receive 441 plate appearances and contribute 0.5 WAR. Nowhere near what the Red Sox are paying for, but far better than what he’s contributed thus far. His contract is already a sunk cost, so anything positive has to be seen as a win from management’s perspective.
No one from the media or Red Sox Nation is expecting Sandoval to be a bright spot on the roster this season, but it’s easy to impress when the bar is set so low. Based on his offseason, he seems motivated, now he needs to prove it with his play.