Pablo Sandoval says he changed his phone number after joining the Boston Red Sox in free agency. New house, new friends, the reasoning went. What hasn't changed: his feelings about his former employer since declaring that manager Bruce Bochy and slugger Hunter Pence were the only San Francisco Giants he missed. Sandoval has softened his tone, a little, by way of a USA Today story which explains in more detail about why he's going to be happier in New England: because the Giants wouldn't stop hassling him about his weight.
"I'm a professional and I know what I have to do,'' said Sandoval, listed as 5-11 and 255. "I know where I've failed and how I've grown up. If I had signed (with the Giants), I knew I would be under a (weight) regimen for five years, and I'm not going to be happy someplace where I'm under that kind of regimen, where I can't be myself.''
Sandoval turns 29 this August, and someone that age or close might begin to notice that the body doesn't recover as quickly as it used to. New teammate David Ortiz noticed it about himself in his 30s, took some weight off, and is giving Sandoval advice about conditioning — but possibly in a different tone than the Giants did.
Of course, it's one thing to get that message from a highly respected peer like Ortiz, another one to hear it from your bosses.
Sandoval's weight always going to be a struggle for him. It's also possible that having Ortiz around will make eating better and staying in shape more palatable for him. It's a near-certainty that Sandoval wasn't going to get toned because of anything someone like Aubrey Huff has to say, or because of fat-shaming by the public at large. Maybe the Red Sox can learn something from the Giants about how to encourage Sandoval.
It's also possible that by the time he's 31 or 32, the Red Sox are going to regret having to pay what's left of his contract. They also might have another World Series ring or two, which Sandoval likely would have helped them win, by then. A tradeoff the Giants probably would be happy with, too.
