San Francisco Giants: If Pablo Sandoval returns, an apology is in order

Last night, rumors broke that Pablo Sandoval would sign with the San Francisco Giants once his contract passed through waivers (because literally NOBODY is picking up that contract). While it was slightly refuted from an ESPN reporter, IF Pablo indeed returns, an apology is in order.

A bombshell for most San Francisco Giants fans hit last night, as Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com broke news that Pablo Sandoval was headed back to the the organization which gave him his big break.

Windy Rivera broke news somewhat to the contrary though saying that according to Pablo, it wasn’t a done deal and there were plenty more options. According to Rivera, Pablo will decide on Friday.

She later tweeted that it’s likely a technicality and he can’t officially say that he has signed with the Giants because he hasn’t cleared waivers.

We can get into whether or not it’s a good move later. Of course, that all depends on him actually signing, and playing well in Sacramento before even setting foot in AT&T Park again. There is one thing that needs to be addressed though, and that will be his comments.

After signing with the Boston Red Sox, Pablo made the comments that he had no issues leaving San Francisco in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller.

"“Only Bochy,” Sandoval said of Giants manager Bruce Bochy. “I love Boch. He’s like my dad. He’s the only guy that I miss. And Hunter Pence. Just those guys. But now, I feel like I’m home.”"

Of course, after the significant, and rightful outrage of Giants fans, he attempted to backtrack his comments in a USA Today Article written by Jorge Ortiz:

"“I said I miss Hunter and Bochy,” said Sandoval, 28. “If I start naming the 25 players, I’d spend all day. How could I not miss them? It was a group that formed a dynasty.”"

Of course the dates on those articles were from March 9th and 25th of 2015. Now that he’s completely failed to live up to expectations, and his gigantic contract that he felt he was so worthy of, he turns back to the only team he actually knows some sort of success with. An apology is in order.

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I don’t care how he goes about it. If he just does it personally with everyone, including Sabean, cool. If he takes out an ad in the newspaper, cool. If he does it through the media, a sit down interview with Amy-G grilling him (can you imagine that?!) cool. If he does it through Andy Baggarly! COOL. I don’t care how he does it, but it must be done.

Because frankly, the Giants didn’t OWE him that gigantic contract that now the Red Sox look like complete idiots for giving it. The worst possible thing for him to do is waltz in and act like nothing happened.

Bay Area News Group’s Andrew Baggarly wrote up a story with a ton of quotes from Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, and Hunter Pence. Of course, Hunter Pence has no reason to be butt-hurt. But Posey does, and Belt does as well. I’m sure those guys aren’t the only left-overs from the World Series crew that will expect, and deserve an apology.

Next: A reminder that Pablo Sandoval was once really good

The entirety of this situation is just confusing. For one, Sandoval isn’t the answer, but the Giants will look like geniuses if this somehow pans out and Pablo is half the player he was in the orange and black. It’s more confusing though that after the Panda so violently bit the hand that fed, that they would be entirely ok with giving him a shot at redemption. But as I’ve said all along in this piece, if Pablo really wants to redeem himself, he can start with a simple apology, that is entirely necessary.