Dombrowski: Not Concerned About Sandoval’s Weight
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave
Dombrowski says he is not concerned about Pablo Sandoval's weight.
After agreeing to a $95 million, five-year contract with the Red
Sox, Sandoval hit .245 with a .292 on-base percentage and .366
slugging percentage - all career lows. He started just 122 games at
third base, well below his career high of 150 in 2014 for San
Francisco, and his range in the field appeared limited. He also
abandoned switch-hitting during the season after going 2-for-41
(.049) with 12 strikeouts from the right side.
''He's always been a big guy,'' Dombrowski said Monday. ''He has
one of those bodies that is not a svelte body, and I've been around
other people in that regards. Our people here, once he reported the
first day, he did drills, they said he moved around great, better
than he did last year at the end of the season.
''You could tell he was in better shape. So, no, I don't have any
concerns more so than I would with anybody else, other than we just
have to realize you're always going to have to stay with him
because you can't let that slip, the work ethic that he's had this
winter. And I think he's prepared to not let that slip because I
think he's committed to coming back and having a very good season
for us. So, no, not really. He's got one of those bodies - they
call him Panda for a reason - and really he's the same as he's been
throughout his whole career.''
Boston went 78-84 and finished last in the AL East for the second
straight season. Dombrowskl said a ''constant flow of people'' from
the organization visited Sandoval throughout the offseason to
monitor his work, including manager John Farrell and senior vice
president of player personnel Allard Baird.
''It's not like he left Oct. 1 and we didn't see him until he
arrived,'' Dombrowski said. ''We'd been seeing him on a regular
basis. And I'll say that even from my own perspective yesterday,
even when I saw him, and I saw him when he walked in and I didn't
have any concerns whatsoever. He looked the same to me.''
Sandoval, 29, is expected to resume switch-hitting this season and
said he worked almost exclusively on his right-handed swing during
the offseason.
On Sunday, Sandoval said he had nothing to prove going into this
season, then backtracked and said he wanted to show fans and
teammates he can be a better player both offensively and
defensively.
Dombrowski, who joined the Red Sox in August, and Farrell met with
Sandoval before Monday's workout.
''I don't know if it was a language barrier when he said basically
he didn't really care,'' Dombrowski said. ''He didn't have anything
to prove to the media, he meant. He did say that he wanted to show
the fans and his teammates that he was prepared and ready to have a
good season, and we didn't have a good year last year, all of us
collectively. So I'm not sure why that didn't come across well.'' (Associated Press)