the weight of the world

There’s been a lot of talk about Pablo’s weight, about his eating habits, about his training and commitment. There’s the World Series breakfast story from Buster Olney. Jeff Fletcher had a story at AOL’s Fanhouse. Bruce Jenkins had a great story at the SFChron. There was even a sad photo at Deadspin and another here.

But Henry Schulman at the Chron had it best: “The Giants plan to use a carrot-and-stick approach with Pablo Sandoval’s conditioning this winter. If he does not eat enough carrots, they might stick him in Fresno to start the 2011 season.”

Schulman also quoted SFGM Brian Sabean: “

“I
think we learned a lesson as an organization that we probably put him
too far out there,” Sabean said. “In some ways, it worked against him
having to live up to that hype. We’re not going to make that same mistake with (Buster) Posey. We’re
going to try to let these guys fly under the radar because we know that
the second time around they’re marked men, and in Pablo’s case he’s got
a lot of work to do.”

The bottom line is that the guy can hit. He has hit and he will hit, but I don’t know for how long or for what team. It’d be a shame if the Giants give up on him, bench him, demote him to the minors, give him away to another club.

He isn’t playing winter ball. He isn’t going home to Venezuela, easier since his Mom’s here. He is going to put in the work. He may bounce back and have a great 2011.

In the end though, you can see how this game turns out. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up a very successful DH.

On the lighter side, Here’s our Panda having fun: