Since the loss of Mike Lowell due to the ravages of time, third base in Boston has been a position in transition. A one-year deal for Adrian Beltre and moving Kevin Youkilis back to third provided only short-term relief. Will Middlebrooks got called up in 2012 after destroying Triple-A pitching and hit .288/.325/.509 in 75 games for Boston at age 23, but since then he has not been both healthy and good simultaneously (and generally neither). For a rich team that hopes to compete every season, this isn't a satisfactory situation. When a team like that has cash to play with, paying top dollar and getting to write in a star for half a decade seems a solid, if expensive, tactic.
The problem for the Red Sox: When it comes to Pablo Sandoval, they're not signing a star.
While the exact financial details aren't known, Sandoval's pending deal with the Red Sox looks to be in the neighborhood of five years and $95 million. While Kung Fu Panda is a relatively young free agent -- he just completed his age-27 season -- that's a lot of cash for a player who hasn't had an actual "star-level" season since 2011. While the sources for WAR, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs, don't always agree on values, Sandoval has averaged 2.7 and 2.6 WAR on those sites, respectively, since 2011, levels that place Sandoval in the above-average class, well below the All-Star level (around 4 WAR).
At a contract at that level, you would think Sandoval's performances would have blown away that of the other top third baseman on the market, Chase Headley, a player nobody thinks is going to touch $95 million this offseason.