Red Sox: Five lowest points of Pablo Sandoval’s tenure in Boston

There weren’t many highlights to Pablo Sandoval’s time with the Boston Red Sox, but there were plenty of low points to reflect on.

Pablo Sandoval‘s tenure with the Boston Red Sox mercifully came to an end about halfway through the ill-fated 5-year, $95 million contract bestowed upon him as a free agent.

The Red Sox designated Sandoval for assignment on Friday. While a number of scenarios could presumably still pan out, none of them are likely to end with Sandoval wearing a Red Sox uniform in Boston again. Whether a team scoops him up off waivers, agrees to trade for him or he’s simply tossed onto the free agent scrap heap, the Red Sox are washing their hands of the Panda.

This brings an end to his memorable stint with the organization, although the majority of those memories aren’t ones that Red Sox fans will look back fondly on. For a guy who wasn’t even on the active roster for the majority of the time he spent with the franchise, Sandoval has more than his fair share of low points.

Boston will be on the hook for the nearly $49 million remaining on Sandoval’s contract. The franchise is essentially paying him a boatload simply to go away, yet that’s hardly the most embarrassing moment of his Red Sox career.

Ear Infection

We’ll start with the most recent low point of Sandoval’s tenure in Boston. The Red Sox placed Sandoval on the 10-day disabled list on June 20 with an inner ear infection.

Not to make light of any medical ailment, as I have no doubt that an inner ear infection can bring plenty of discomfort. It’s just not the type of issue that typically lands a player on the DL for nearly a month.

This was the second extended absence this season for Sandoval, who also missed 32 games with a knee injury. He would appear in only a dozen games after being activated at the end of May before it was back to the infirmary.

Sandoval hit .212 with a .622 OPS over 108 plate appearances this season. He also committed five errors for a dismal .914 fielding percentage and -6 defensive runs saved in only 29 games played at third base. The Panda somehow managed to produce a -0.9 WAR, matching the negative value of his massively disappointing 2015 season in only a quarter of the time.

He couldn’t hit, he couldn’t field his position. Sandoval brought nothing to the table, leaving the Red Sox with no incentive to put him back on the roster at the expense of another player who could actually prove useful.

It’s pretty clear that the DL stint was an excuse to keep Sandoval off the active roster until the team could figure out what to do with him. His rehab clock was set to expire this weekend, forcing the team to make a decision. Now that they have, we can finally put this nightmare behind us.

Ben Cherington resigns

The reign of former Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington was a mixed bag. On the one hand, he’s responsible for signing a collection of affordable, high character veteran free agents prior to the 2013 season, assembling the pieces that brought Boston a World Series title. He also drafted and oversaw the development of prospects who are now making their presence felt for the big league team or who have been shipped out in trades to acquire star talent.

On the other, he burdened the franchise with a number of blunders on the free agent market. None of Cherington’s mistakes stand out more than the signing of Sandoval.

The decision to sign Sandoval was met with immediate skepticism. It was bad enough that his OPS had steadily declined over his previous three seasons with the San Francisco Giants. Acquiring Sandoval was even more baffling given that it coincided with the Red Sox signing Hanley Ramirez, who happened to play the same position.

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It was clear that Cherington’s mentality was that he wanted to add a couple of high profile bats and figure out how to fit them in the lineup later. The plan backfired with disastrous results. Hanley’s adventures in the outfield was a horrifying experience, but at least he salvaged some of his value once he was moved to first base. Sandoval never provided positive value in any aspect of the game.

Cherington resigned from his position in August 2015, shortly after the Red Sox appointed Dave Dombrowski as their new president of baseball operations. While Cherington was offered the option of staying on as general manager, the change was viewed as a clear demotion that stripped him of all decision-making power. He had no interest in the new front office structure, so Cherington left the organization.

The good that Cherington did during his time at the helm of the Red Sox front office outweighed the bad – after all, flags fly forever. Yet the poor decisions he made are what we’ll remember most. Sandoval was undoubtedly the worst of those decisions, leaving us to wonder if Cherington would still be here if he had never signed the maligned third baseman.

Instagram

In June 2015, the Red Sox benched Sandoval for one game during a series in Atlanta when he was caught “liking” photos of a woman on Instagram.

It’s not his taste in who he decides to follow on social media that irked the Red Sox. The problem was the time stamp could clearly be traced to occurring during a game. Sandoval would attempt to defend his actions by stating he was merely checking Instagram on this phone while he was taking a bathroom break.

The story was wildly overblown, although you can’t blame Red Sox Nation for being skeptical of players in the wake of the Chicken and Beer fiasco a few years prior. The pitching staff took the brunt of the blame for the September collapse in 2011 when it was revealed that they spent their off days drinking in the clubhouse during games rather than sitting alongside the rest of their teammates in the dugout.

While this wasn’t quite on the same level as those shenanigans, the image of Sandoval sitting on a toilet checking out ladies on Instagram was an embarrassing look for him and the team.

A starter no more

The 2016 season was a failure from the start for Sandoval. He showed up to camp dreadfully out of shape. He made claims that the team never asked him to lose weight, conflicting with reports of what the front office had previously stated. On the heels of the worst season of his career, Sandoval carried himself like a player who simply didn’t care.

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While Sandoval seemed content to keep cashing his paychecks, John Farrell made it clear that the size of a player’s contract would not dictate the amount of paying time they received. If the manager’s words were meant to light a spark under Sandoval, they did little to stir a positive reaction from the Panda.

This opened the door for Travis Shaw to swoop in and steal the starting third base job entering the season. Shaw impressed the club in limited time at the tail end of the previous season and he carried a scorching bat through spring training. With Farrell intent on putting his most productive lineup on the field, turning to Shaw at Sandoval’s expense was an easy choice.

Sandoval would appear in only three games that season, going without a hit and tallying four strikeouts in six at-bats. He was placed on the disabled list on May 2 with a shoulder injury that shelved him for the rest of the season.