Melvin lauds Sandoval's love of the game after Atlantic League signing
Melvin lauds Sandoval's love of the game after Atlantic League signing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- Manager Bob Melvin was pleased to learn that former Giants star third baseman and World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval has signed with a team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
Sandoval signed a contract with the Staten Island FerryHawks, less than two weeks after he was released by the Giants on March 28. The 37-year-old had been with the Giants on a minor league deal in hopes of returning to the majors for the first time since the 2021 MLB season.
Melvin didn’t seem too surprised that Sandoval latched on with another team after spending the spring in Arizona with the Giants.
“I think he’s going to play as long as he can play,” Melvin said. “He just loves to play. I don’t think he cares where it is to tell you the truth. He’s all about playing baseball. He’s been 100 percent all baseball his whole life. Sometimes that’s hard to stop when you enjoy it as much as he does.”
A two-time MLB All-Star, Sandoval was a key member of San Francisco’s three World Series championship teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He earned MVP in the 2012 World Series when he hit three home runs in Game 1, helping lead the Giants to a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
He was released by San Francisco after playing in 55 games for the Giants during the COVID shortened 2020 MLB season then spent the remainder of that campaign and all of 2021 with the Atlanta Braves.
Sandoval hit .250 with two RBIs during spring traning this season, but was let go right before Opening Day.
Melvin said he was appreciative of how Sandoval handled himself throughout the spring.
“It was great to have him around,” Melvin said. “A lot of times we had him on the back field with some of the younger guys and he really enjoyed that as well. It would have been easy to put him on the A field with everybody but we really wanted his experience and his enthusiasm for the game to rub off on some of our younger players. He was happy to do it and I think he did a great job with it. You ask anyone of those guys that experienced a conversation a talked baseball with him, they’re going to be better for it.”
Asked if he thought Sandoval would eventually work his way into coaching, Melvin sounded somewhat optimistic.
“If that’s what he wants to do,” Melvin said. “It’s going to be a while because he likes to play. But yeah, there’s a lot of knowledge and certainly a lot of enthusiasm, how he played the game.”
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