Pablo Sandoval has been a controversial figure ever since he signed his five-year, $95 million contract with the Boston Red Sox last season. He'll make more than $17 million in 2016, but manager John Farrell doesn't seem to care.
Fellow infielder Travis Shaw has been tearing it up during spring training, and he'll be getting a legitimate opportunity to compete for playing time at third base, which means Sandoval may not be a shoo-in for the starting job.
"There could be the potential for more here," Farrell said Sunday in reference to Shaw's status as a corner utility player. "We're not in a place in spring training where we're going to shut that down. He could be competing for regular at-bats.
"I think [Sandoval's] very well aware of it."
Shaw and prospect Sam Travis have been the team's top performers during spring training. In 12 games (34 at-bats), Shaw is hitting .441/.472/.676 with seven runs scored, two home runs and nine RBI. He's logged most of his innings at first base and has yet to make an error, but he's also gotten a good amount of time at third base (53 innings) and has yet to make an error.
Meanwhile, Sandoval is batting .250/.276/.571 with two runs scored, two home runs and four RBI in 12 games (28 at-bats) and has committed four errors in 64 innings at the hot corner, which is seemingly no change from last year. His .949 fielding percentage in 2015 was below the league average (.958) and the second worst figure of his career.
"Panda's" career-worst MLB season at the plate spurred trade rumors, especially once the Red Sox hired Dave Dombrowski to take over the front office. However, whether Boston opted to keep him or couldn't find a trade partner remains unclear.
What we do know is that he won't be getting a free pass to remain the team's starting third baseman. The Red Sox have a lot of ground to make up after finishing at the bottom of the AL East the past two seasons, and they need to begin the year with the absolute best roster they can field.
If Farrell feels Shaw is the right guy, it sounds as if that's the direction he'll go.
And it will send a message to a number of the team's other top-paid players: just because you make a lot of money doesn't mean you're guaranteed a starting job.
