Report: Former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval Agrees to New Braves Contract

MLB veteran Pablo Sandoval has agreed to stick around in Atlanta.

According to MLB Network's Jon Heyman, the 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves. He will earn $1 million if he makes the team. 

Sandoval spent the bulk of his career in two stints with the San Francisco Giants, sandwiching parts of three seasons with the Boston Red Sox. After he was released by the Giants in September, he appeared in one regular-season game for the Braves, then appeared in three games in the NLCS. 

Sandoval rejoined the Giants in 2017 after the Red Sox released him three seasons into his five-year, $95 million deal. With the Red Sox, he hit .237 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI, and he was similarly struggling in his first years back in San Francisco. In 2019, there was a glimmer of his earlier success, as he hit .268 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI.

But none of his recent seasons have matched his early years with the Giants. In seven years with the team, he was a two-time All-Star. A three-time World Series champion in San Francisco, he was named MVP of the Fall Classic in 2012 after he amassed a .500 batting average with three home runs and four RBI in the team's sweep of the Detroit Tigers. 

In his one regular-season outing with the Braves last season, Sandoval went 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout, playing third base. Used mainly as a designated hitter in 33 games with the Giants last season, he hit .220 with six RBI and one home run.

While he hasn't been an everyday player since his early days, Sandoval will have the opportunity to settle into Atlanta and possibly arrive back in the big leagues.