Pablo Sandoval says leaving Giants 'not hard at all'

Pablo Sandoval is with the Red Sox for at least the next five years. He left the Giants in his first year of free agency, even though San Francisco was the only team and organization the 28-year-old had ever known. Apparently, this decision was "not hard at all" for Panda to make, according to Bleacher Report's Scott Miller, as Sandoval was unhappy with how the Giants' front office had treated him before what would be his final season in town.

Sandoval explained that the extension discussions from a year ago were what caused him to make his decision to leave San Francisco at the end of the season. He claims the Giants didn't respect his agent or the contract talks, and called out longtime Giants' general manager Brian Sabean specifically for these problems. These conflicts didn't seem to bother Panda on the field at all, as he hit .279/.324/.415 with his usual quality defense and a another tremendous World Series run before agreeing to a five-year, $95 million contract with the Red Sox.

Before you think that this is just because the Sox offered the most money, Sandoval also claims he "left money on the table in San Francisco", and that how players are treated was more important to him than the most possible cash.

There is more to the article than just Panda's thoughts on the Giants -- he wants to stay at third base, Jake Peavy vouched for Sandoval when former Sox teammates of Peavy's had questions, Panda's work ethic on defense seems admirable -- but the real takeaway here is the one that's going to infuriate Giants' fans for one reason or another. It's okay, San Francisco, Sox fans know what it's like when early season negotiations leave a bad taste in a beloved player's mouth.

On the bright side, the Sox still ended up with Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez, Rick Porcello, and Yoan Moncada, so the sting of losing their own homegrown cornerstone has been lessened substantially. The Giants' didn't have their offseason go nearly as well, but they're also the defending champs, so they'll survive.