November 18th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman
Members of the Red Sox front office met with sought after free agent Pablo Sandoval for several hours Tuesday afternoon. They invited the 3rd basemen to see Fenway Park before meeting in team offices to discuss potential deals.
The Red Sox have expressed interest in Sandoval since mid-August as they noted his contract terminating after this past season. The interest in Sandoval stems mainly from his being a powerful switch hitter.
He hit 16 home runs last season and would be one of the Red Sox only left handed hitters if he was signed.
Beyond offensive versatility, Sandoval would provide a kind of consistency at third base that has been lacking in recent years. He put up a .971 fielding percentage a year ago and initiated 27 double plays. If signed the Sox would likely plug Sandoval in as a full time third basemen for next season.
Also, if Sandoval were to be given the six year term that he requests be part of his contract, he would be with the team long enough to be considered as a replacement for David Ortiz as designated hitter when he retires.
Sandoval would without a doubt better the Red Sox as a baseball team but he is currently commanding a very large paycheck.
During today’s meetings, baseball reporter Jerry Crasnick tweeted that sources had told him that Sandoval has verbalized his desire to sign within the ballpark of $80-$90 million over six years. He later suggested that a deal with Sandoval could materialize very quickly.
Despite that, conflicting reports exist that insist that there is little or no chance that a contract actually gets drawn up and agreed upon before Sandoval leaves town later this week.
But regardless, the Red Sox acted on their promise to go “all in” on Sandoval. They did so with a ball park tour, a short experience of Boston, and a reported dinner Tuesday night. The Red Sox seem to be giving Sandoval all available options in an attempt to lure him onto their roster.
"It's an opportunity for (players) to ask questions," Red Sox GM Ben Cherrington said of these recruiting meetings in general. "These are choices, big decisions that free agents make. Obviously, a big piece of it is going to be the economics. But it's a life decision and they should get an opportunity to ask questions about whatever they want to ask questions about.”
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