The Boston Red Sox made headlines earlier this week when manager John Farrell announced that Travis Shaw will be the starting third baseman on Opening Day in favor of veteran Pablo Sandoval.
Sandoval, who signed a five-year $95 million contract last offseason, endured a career-worst campaign in 2015 and didn't entirely display this spring that those woes were behind him. He's batting just .222/.255/.444 with three runs scored, two home runs and six RBI in 45 at-bats in addition to making four errors in 89 innings at third.
On the other hand, Shaw has logged 102 perfect innings at the hot corner and is mashing .317/.368/.476 with 10 runs scored, two home runs and 10 RBI in 63 at-bats as he continues his surge from his rookie season. In 65 games with the Sox last year, the 25-year-old hit .270 with an .813 OPS in addition to 31 runs scored, 13 home runs and 36 RBI.
Clearly, Farrell does not care about how much money players make. Sandoval is set to earn $17.6 million in 2016, while Shaw will make the league minimum. The manager's reasons to bench Panda went well beyond his offensive struggles.
"I think that ultimately it became a decision that was focused around defense," Alex Speier of the Boston Globe said on the Baseball Tonight Podcast.
"Last year he was one of the worst, if not the worst, defensive third basemen in baseball. There had been enough red flags surrounding his defense in spring training, sometimes with picking the ball, but more frequently, I think, with throwing. Travis Shaw looked like a better third baseman."
ESPN's Karl Ravech also weighed in on the matter.
"[Dave] Dombrowski made it clear that this is his team ... then there's the message to Pablo and everybody else, that not only is this about your abilities, but you chose not to do anything proactive with regards to your physical condition ... and, the most concerning to me, is that you have a guy earning $95 million [in Sandoval] saying he's perfectly good with the decision [to start Shaw]."
Farrell said that Sandoval has worked hard this spring, but "he's got work to do."
That's evident, and now with Panda as a backup option, the Red Sox will have over $130 million on the bench, as outfielder Rusney Castillo is set to join him, as well.
