Pablo Sandoval went from a fun-loving figure to a pariah

Even as the San Francisco Giants were celebrating their third World Series championship of the decade in a champagne-soaked clubhouse in 2014, outfielder Gregor Blanco talked about his attempts to convince teammate Pablo Sandoval that the grass wasn’t greener elsewhere.

Sandoval, a fellow Venezuelan, was coming off another glorious October, having set a record for most hits in a postseason two years after winning World Series MVP honors. He was determined to cash in on free agency and had his heart set on a $100 million contract, wherever he could find it.

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Blanco had bounced around three organizations before landing in San Francisco as a reserve outfielder in 2012, and he had a sense for how different life could be elsewhere. He tried to instill that notion on Sandoval, who had been with the Giants franchise ever since turning pro at 16.

The negotiations with the club didn’t go well, and Sandoval instead signed a five-year, $95 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, who are on the hook for about $49 million remaining in the deal after designating him for assignment Friday.

Sandoval went from being a beloved, fun-loving figure with the charming nickname of Kung-Fu Panda in San Francisco to a pariah in Boston, derided for his poor conditioning and meager production.

He showed up inexcusably out of shape to his first spring training and was the subject of scorn after unflattering photos of him circulated in the news media. It didn’t get much better from there, as Sandoval never regained the form he showed in batting .294 with an .811 on-base plus slugging percentage in seven seasons in San Francisco.

In a total of 161 games with the Red Sox over three years, he batted .237 with a .646 OPS and was a defensive liability when he did play. After losing his starting job to Travis Shaw in the 2016 spring, Sandoval played in only three games before sitting out the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

This year he batted .212 in 32 games and spent extended time on the disabled list with a knee injury and an inner-ear infection. He had been on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Pawtucket, where he batted .221 in two stints, and declined a longer stay in the minors before the Red Sox DFAd him.

“We have given Pablo opportunities to play, even watching him at the Triple A level,’’ general manager Dave Dombrowski said in an MLB Network interview. “And he just really hasn’t shown the skills he used to have for us.’’

Several factors went into the disaster that was Sandoval’s tenure in Boston, and most point to his immaturity. For one, he was ill-prepared for the demands of the high-intensity environment he found there. Although he would get chided for his poor conditioning in San Francisco, Sandoval still got a pass because he mostly delivered on the field, especially in the postseason, and was immensely popular with the fans.

Sandoval also lacked the right people around him to get him straightened out. Eventually, he parted ways with agent Gustavo Vazquez and became estranged from his brothers Michael and Luis.

Even David Ortiz couldn’t reach him. During their first season together in 2015, Ortiz advised Sandoval to take better care of his body to fend off the impact of age, aware the metabolism slows down with the passage of time. Sandoval still showed up to camp overweight the next spring, although he insisted he worked out hard in the offseason. It just seemed like he could never sweat off more than he would eat, and he always get heavier during the course of a season.

Sandoval, 30, appeared to have turned a corner this spring, when he arrived considerably lighter – probably around 240 pounds – batted .338 with a 1.025 OPS and moved better in the field. He took ownership of his past mistakes and spoke about the impact of seeing his son being born the previous summer and how badly he wanted for his boy to see him play in the majors.

But Sandoval got off to a poor start, batting .213 over the first three weeks of the season until the knee injury sidelined him for more than a month. He didn’t hit much upon his return, his fielding deteriorated further, and finally the Red Sox had enough, cutting ties with him.

Discussing the news on the MLB Network, former Giants coach Tim Flannery recalled the ups and downs of Sandoval’s tenure in San Francisco, said “he has some addiction issues when it comes to food’’ and mentioned how athletic a player he was despite his girth.

And time and again, Flannery used a term that captures how sad he was to see such a talent go to waste, saying repeatedly, “I’m heartbroken.’’

A terrible waste, indeed.

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