Let’s talk about that fake Pablo Sandoval rumor

Last week, a rumor went around, and you know how the baseball world loves rumors. In this case, it was about the Giants having some interest in a reunion with Pablo Sandoval. The article was passed around, discussed, and then Chris Haft talked to Bobby Evans, who refuted it pretty thoroughly. Here’s Grant’s article about it. Go read it. It’s good. Then go click on the ads. Thank you for your support.

But I’m only kind of interested in the rumor itself. I’m more interested in the fact that it was obviously fake. How could you tell it was obviously fake? Well, I can’t speak for you and shame on you for asking me to. But I can speak for myself, and here’s why I never thought this was a real thing.

It didn’t come from a Giants writer

You know what gets clicks from Giants fans? Articles about Pablo Sandoval. In terms of readership, one of the top things I’ve written for this site was this dumb article about a stupid feud. Look how reading it adds nothing to your life! It got tens of thousands of hits. It was the top article on any SB Nation baseball site that day, and it was one of the top ones the next day too. It was absurd.

Do you think that Hank Schulman and Andrew Baggarly don’t want any of that traffic? I promise you they do. I promise you that if this was an actual story, they’d have been at least letting you know about the Giants putting out feelers or how they still believed in the talent but not the contract or something like that. They never did. The reporters who know the organization best never said anything about this. That’s not totally definitive – the Giants can keep some things quiet – but it’s a big, big clue that this was always nothing.

If there was any possibility of Pablo Sandoval coming back, there would be an article for us, the Giants fanbase. These are points that would be addressed and discussed. There wasn’t. Instead ...

It did come from a Red Sox writer

You know what gets clicks from Boston fans? Yelling “THIS GUY SUCKS BUT HERE’S HOW TO GET RID OF HIM.” And hey, you know who sucks and Red Sox fans would be excited to get rid of? Oh, hi there, Pablo Sandoval. The article even admits that such a trade would be a long shot, because of course it’s a long shot, because it’s not going to happen. It’s nothing more than fictional clickbait to appeal to a large audience. It means nothing. It can and should be disregarded.

The weight issues are still unresolved

When Pablo left, one of the reasons that went around was that he didn’t like the Giants’ insistence on monitoring his fitness regimen and dietary habits incredibly closely. He felt it was a sign of disrespect and that he wanted to go to an organization that didn’t do that. So he left for the Red Sox!

He gained weight.

Without delving too deeply into #FatChat and whether Pablo’s lost weight since he got hurt this year, from the Giants’ perspective, they just have to be glad this isn’t their problem. And it isn’t! It’s the Red Sox’s problem. Why would the Giants take it on?

The clubhouse issues are very real

And speaking of issues the Giants are probably loath to take on, uh, remember how Pablo said the only guys he’d miss in the clubhouse were Pence and Bochy? The Giants are an organization that tries to acquire good clubhouse guys who will foster a positive, professional environment, and it’s hard to see Pablo Sandoval, noted guy who has basically trashed half the team in the press, fitting into that.

This and the last issue both went completely unaddressed in the article, because of course they did. There aren’t really answers here because the Giants don’t want him back and never did.

He’s bad now

And of course the last question about a team acquiring Pablo Sandoval: why would they want him? He was godawful in 2015, showed up to Spring Training this year wildly out of shape, and got hurt in April and missed the whole year. What part of that is a player that you would want on your team? In 2015, his offense and defense were both abysmal, and it’s not like anyone looks at his body and his style of play and says “Well, he’s going to age well.”

Pablo Sandoval is, right now, a bad baseball player. He would not be worth a roster spot for the league minimum. The Giants are not interested and they’re right to not be interested.

In conclusion, this was always a bad, dumb rumor, and the only reason to believe it is if you want to believe the Giants front office is filled with idiots who believe in nothing but bringing back old players. They may have some flaws, but they’re better than that.