Giants Have Considered Pablo Sandoval Trade With Red Sox

The San Francisco Giants have at least had internal discussions on whether to pursue a trade for Boston Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval, reports Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. 

Sandoval was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 2003, and he had been with their organization until he left via free agency during the 2014-15 offseason. 

Since joining Boston a five-year, $95 million deal, Sandoval, to say the least, has not lived up to expectations. 

The contract would likely be the biggest concern when matching the two sides up in a trade, but as always, the more money the Red Sox decide to eat, the more they will receive. Of course, considering Sandoval's performance, it may not be a lot regardless.

On paper, Sandoval could be a good fit for the Giants, who appear to be headed into the 2017 season with Eduardo Nunez and Conor Gillaspie manning the hot corner. Last season, Giants' third basemen posted a .704 OPS, third worst in the National League. 

As for the Red Sox, they spent basically all of 2016 without Sandoval. Travis Shaw was decent, but offensively, he did not provide a lot of spark. Boston could also turn to Yoan Moncada at third, but he did not hit in his brief stint in 2016. 

In 2016, Sandoval played in just three games with Boston. He missed most of the season with a shoulder ailment that required surgery. The year prior, he posted a dismal .245/.292/.366 line with 10 homers and 47 RBI. According to FanGraphs, he was worth -2.0 Wins Above Replacement. 

--Devan Fink

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