2K14: Pablo Sandoval

[Fresno Bob]

weighed in at 240lb and 19% bodyfat at his physical, down from 278 and 30% bf at the end of last year

[DJBeasties]

He's hard to evaluate I think. He's had variance month to month, weight/discipline issues, a power outage, struggles vs LHP after crushing them in '09. His EYE stayed pretty stable but everything was hollow last year.

Of course he's just 24 years old.

.290 BABIP is a 60 point drop from '09 but I bet the weak contact had a lot to do with it. Wimpy groundouts and flyballs.

He was worth -4.9 RAR last year. Ugh.

I'll be keeping an eye on him this Spring Training.

[Don Quixote]

If I owned him in any league and he was going into his option year, I would NOT extend him. Take your value, hopefully be happy, and be prepared to trade him if your team is going poorly. He just doesn't have enough track record to justify an extension.

Of course, I say this about a lot of players.

As for his condition, while it's obvious that he's much improved, the trick for him is keeping the weight/fat off. IIRC, he's been a big fan of bad food during the season.

[Hornsby]

weighed in at 240lb and 19% bodyfat at his physical, down from 278 and 30% bf at the end of last year

So now he's just a fat bastard, instead of an incredibly fat bastard...somebody needs to guard the post game spread from Pablo.

[Porcello]

I'm buying low this season, at his current prices his fatness is more than worth the risk. I'd be hesitant about signing him to multi year deals, but if the price is right he's absolutely worth it...especially at a thin position like 3B.

[Gregg]

I'm buying low this season, at his current prices his fatness is more than worth the risk. I'd be hesitant about signing him to multi year deals, but if the price is right he's absolutely worth it...especially at a thin position like 3B.

Yeah but what is low? I bet he still goes for $20 bucks in NL only leagues.

[Porcello]

Yeah but what is low? I bet he still goes for $20 bucks in NL only leagues.

Difficult to speak in terms of absolutes since his price will vary league to league and format to format, but based off everything I've read he's going cheaper than I think he should most places. I'll be targeting him in my mixed auction, betting I can get him cheaper than Beltre and McGehee, both of which I think Pablo outproduces.

[Rufus T Firefly]

One of the stranger stats I've seen:

Home: .330/.382/.520
Away: .208/.266/.299

This is at a home park that usually suppresses hitting statistics as well. This really seems to hint that a lot of his troubles last year were mental as he didn't have the same support staff on the road as he did at home. He was going through a messy divorce with a small child involved and during road trips it possibly was able to get on his mind a bit more than was at home, where he had his mother to comfort him.

This is all just my opinion, but I think with this off-season he was able to distance himself from his past marriage and his weaknesses (plate discipline - both kinds). He's putting in the effort and able to focus his mind more on the game and improving. Also, it's a lot easier to take advice after hitting .268 than it is after .330.

I'll predict he gets back on track this season and produces:

.315/22 hr/3 sb

[DJBeasties]

Been awhile since we've talked Sandoval but it sounds like he dropped a lot of weight in the offseason and I'm starting to see people giving him a bit of a push in mock drafts.

Thoughts on Panda for a rebound year? Contract year for him as well.

[Don Quixote]

Been awhile since we've talked Sandoval but it sounds like he dropped a lot of weight in the offseason and I'm starting to see people giving him a bit of a push in mock drafts.

Thoughts on Panda for a rebound year? Contract year for him as well.

I'm predicting an improvement over the last two years, but not to the level of 2009 or 2011. Call it .290/20/90, an OPS around .825, and a career high in SB, maybe 7.