Let’s play the what-if game. What if Pablo Sandoval doesn’t become the new Red Sox third baseman. A number of reports have stated that the deal is done. BAHstonians celebrate!
But wait….
Other teams are saying they haven’t been told the door is closed on a potential Pablo purchase. What does that do to your fan base? Remember when Boston thought they were getting A-Rod? In that case, they probably feel pretty good about getting spurned. But what about this time? What if Pablo ends up a Padre? Check out the below timeline, just from this morning, on MLB Trade Rumors.
6:51am:
The Red Sox have agreed to a deal with free agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). It’s a five-year contract worth in the range of $100MM. Jake Wesley originally tweeted late last night that Sandoval and the Sox had reached a deal. Sandoval is represented by Gustavo Vasquez of the SPS Sports Group.
7:04am:
Gustavo Vasquez says no agreement has been reached and that his client is still weighing offers, WEEI.com’s Alex Speier reports (Twitter link).
8:50am:
The Giants offered Sandoval a five-year, $95MM contract and showed some willingness to go to $100MM if necessary, tweets Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Andrew Baggarly of CSNBayArea.com hears the same and adds that there was an understanding that the $95MM wasn’t necessarily a final offer.
9:25am:
Sandoval will make a final decision today, Vasquez tells Speier (Twitter link). FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Padres have yet to be informed that they’re out of the running as well.
Sox fans are already sharing their thoughts, happy to see their team spending more. But what if….
“Boston’s a big market team, and like most teams we’re happy when we land quality players and upset when we miss out on them. Boston consistently spends money, albeit it changed for 2 years where the Sox went for quantity over quality (Ryan Dempster et al). Now that we’re back in last, because surprise surprise, the Ryan Dempster’s of the world aren’t really that good, acquiring top talent is again a priority. It’s not my money and there’s no hard cap, so I’m glad the Sox are spending on top players again rather than only trying to bargain hunt.”
Some Sox fans just don’t trust what they hear at all:
“Cubs and Boston prospects are notoriously overrated. Part of it is the media, but it’s also true that they have a culture of hyping their own prospects from scouts to their front office executives. The media prospect watchers really get most of their information 2nd hand anyway.”
Others don’t want any part of the deal to begin with:
Ben
Yikes. That’s some serious pessimism. For the record, Hanley, Pablo and John is a much better deal than Adrian, Carl and Josh….
How would the Sox use Hanley, Pablo and Xander anyway? Xander is the best defender, followed by Pablo. I don’t see Hanley playing shortstop, so that puts Xander at short, Pablo at third and Hanley in right? The Green Monster is requires a serious learning curve for someone who hasn’t played much, if any, left field in their career. And then there’s Cespedes and Jackie Bradley Jr. Oh yeah, and Will Middlebrooks…
The long-term effects of getting the hopes of the fan base up, only to let them fall, is clear. Trigger happy tweeters in the media need to think about the feelings of the fans, rather than only worry about being the first person to tweet.
Categories: MLB
THE MORNING BISCUIT 
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