Zo & Bertrand: Will Pablo Sandoval Play Again For Red Sox?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Pablo Sandoval is done for the season after undergoing left shoulder surgery on Tuesday, but is he done with the Red Sox?
Sandoval will have three years left on a five-year, $95 million deal following this season (with a club option for 2020), but after an unproductive year-plus with the team filled with talk about his weight and body mass index, the team may be willing to eat the majority of the contract just to get him off the squad.
Jared Carabbis of Barstool Sports joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand for his weekly visit on Wednesday, and thinks there is a good chance that Sandoval has played his last regular season game in a Boston uniform.
"Things have to fall your way; I don't think it's a guarantee. But I truly believe he has played his last game in a Red Sox uniform, regular season-wise. I do think you're stuck with him coming into Spring Training next year. Then you play some games and kind of have to hope for other teams to need a third baseman or a lefty bat," he said. "Regardless, the Red Sox are going to have to eat a ton of money to get rid of this guy."
Beetle argues that Sandoval will be less-tradeable next year than he was going into this season.
"This is a guy that is going to come back and probably have the same set of problems he had this year, and on top of it he is coming off shoulder surgery," said Bertrand. "Short-term it's great because he's out of sight and out of mind, but he's going to come back next spring and will be less tradeable.
"I think he will play in games with a Red Sox uniform on, and maybe, just maybe, the Red Sox push him enough during his rehab and offseason that he gets into playing shape, whatever that may be for him," Beetle added, hoping that Sandoval can slide into the DH slot when David Ortiz retires after this season (if Ortiz retires after this season).
While Carrabis agrees there are a lot of red flags surrounding the third baseman, from his "eating disorder" to the terrible contract and recent surgery, he said there are ways for the Red Sox to convince teams to take Sandoval off their hands.
"There is value in having a 'proven winner' – you can sell people on that. It comes down to him showing up in shape," he said. "I would bet against that, but it's still a possibility. If he shows up to camp looking like he did in 2011, when he showed up skinny and had one of his best years performance-wise, you can sell them on that too."
