The point of crisis is coming for Pablo Sandoval soon, that moment when the promise of a great career meets all the things that make it impossible.
Sandoval is being investigated and faces possible charges in an alleged sexual assault in Santa Cruz County Friday morning. Charges have not been filed, and Sandoval has cooperated with the sheriffs department. In sum, there is still too little we know, and too few developments to make assumptions.
BAGGARLY: Sandoval questioned by police
So no assumptions will be made, except this one, which is more of a fact: Sandoval is at a stage where too many things are getting in the way of his becoming the best player he can be.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
This is not about sorting bad luck (his two hand surgeries) from bad habits (his ongoing weight issues) from bad behavior (if this is indeed the case). This is about him being somewhere other than at third base and in the middle of the order when the Giants need him in those two places.
In short, there is growing level of frustration that the Sandoval of three years ago and chunks of 2011 is the exception rather than the rule. There is rising frustration that he will not be able to seize his future and make it his present. And because baseball is a macro team sport where the interactions of players and jobs are on the big-picture scale, there is confusion about whether he is going to be part of the Giants core in the years to come.
Nobody says so, of course, certainly not out loud. Sandoval is not the type who enjoys being called out by the boss, which only makes him a typical human being.
And there is no way to gauge how he should make himself that mega-reliable player that the Giants so heavily rely upon except for being there, day in and day out. The Santa Cruz matter is, even in the most benign circumstance, one more complication interfering with the concept of Sandoval as part of the center of the franchise.
San Francisco Giants
Its hard to make more sweeping assumptions than that with so little known about the incident. Perhaps Sandoval was merely a witness helping police with their inquiries, or perhaps he was directly involved. One must assume the former until developments indicate otherwise.
But baseball teams make constant re-evaluations of all their players, with the key question being, Is he worth it? For some players the answer is always Of course; for most others it is, Yeah, for the most part, though you never know for sure. For a few, it becomes No, not really.
Josh Hamilton, considered the best player in the game right now, has struggled with addictions in the past and has gone from the last one to the first one. Elijah Dukes went from the first to the last in equal time.
Sandoval is in that middle area now, and Fridays incident, however it shakes out, did not ease anyones agitation in the Giant front office. They did feel strongly enough about him to give him a three-year, 17.15 million deal in January, but one wonders if they would do that now. They are growing increasingly impatient for the Sandoval that delivered the home runs and the diving stops and the nickname and the hats and the big dreams for a prosperous future. And theyre not getting him now, and theyre starting to wonder in their grimmer moods if they ever will.
For the moment, they still see the up side first. But when they hear more about him than they see, they recalibrate, while grinding their teeth.