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After spending all seven years of his career with the San Francisco Giants, Pablo Sandoval is ready to test free agency for the first time. This comes on the heels of rejecting the qualifying offer that the Giants extended to him at the end of the season. Wherever he ends up, he figures to receive one of the more lucrative contracts offered to a position player this offseason.
Sandoval has been a productive player over the course of his career with the Giants. His career batting line is .294/.346/.465 with 106 career home runs. While slightly below his career marks, the 28-year-old had a quality season in 2014 by batting .279/.324/.415 as he helped the Giants win their third World Series during his time in San Francisco. This was good for 3.0 fWAR. In addition, he has been a very successful postseason player with a .344/.389/.545 line in 167 plate appearances.
Throughout his career Sandoval has primarily been a third baseman, but he has also played some first base and even caught, although not since 2009. At third base his defense has varied in quality from season to season resulting in a total of zero defensive runs saved for his career.
As attractive an option as Sandoval might be, the Mets are set at third base. In 2015, the Mets will look for David Wright to rebound from a disappointing 2014 to once again anchor the offense. As for Sandoval, Ken Rosenthal has reported that his main suitors are the Giants and the Red Sox.