When Pablo Sandoval was a a free agent in 2014, the San Diego Padres were interested in third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who was coming off a season where he hit .279/.324/.415 with 16 home runs and 73 runs batted in for the Giants.

Sandoval knew he was going to get paid by some MLB team and the San Diego Padres were one of the teams that offered him a deal along with the Red Sox and Sandoval’s team since 2008 the Giants.

Sandoval elected to sign with the Red Sox on a five-year $95 million contract, making him and Hanley Ramirez Boston’s two premier free agent signings. Sandoval’s 2015 season was less than premier, however.

The 29-year-old Sandoval slashed .245/.292/.366 with just 10 home runs and 47 runs batted in over the course of 126 games. Sandoval also made a career high 15 errors fielding wise at third base.

This poor season lead many to question the contract the Red Sox gave to Sandoval. While there continues to be rumors and speculation that the Red Sox are considering moving Sandoval, talks have not be advanced yet, as teams just remain interested.

Per Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Padres are indeed interested in Sandoval, and they are even scouting him:

FORT MYERS, Fla. — There’s a San Diego Padres scout here taking a close look at Pablo Sandoval, post-back injury.

Does the story go beyond that?
It’s anyone’s guess.

The Padres were one of the teams that offered Sandoval a contract in the winter of 2014, when he was a free agent, along with Boston and San Francisco. Sandoval spurned the Padres’ offer, which was thought to be slightly larger than the Giants’ and Red Sox’, to sign with Boston.

The Padres have had problems filling their third base void.

The fact that they are watching Sandoval the next couple of days — he went 0 for 3 in a minor league game Monday and is scheduled to start Tuesday for the first time since going down with back stiffness — may or may not mean anything, but they’re certainly leaving all options open.

Cafardo also notes that the Padres are open to trading veteran right-hander James Shields. The Red Sox have David Price, Clay Buchholz, and Rick Porcello in their starting rotation, but the rest of that rotation is sketchy. The Red Sox acquired Craig Kimbrel from the Padres earlier this off-season to bolster their bullpen.

In my mind, it would make sense for the Padres and the Red Sox to work out a James Shields-Pablo Sandoval trade with other pieces involved like maybe sending a prospect to the Padres while the Red Sox can get a veteran as they try to contend and the Padres try to rebuild.

It should be interesting to see how Sandoval responds after a bad 2015 in Boston.

[twitter-follow screen_name='tony_montalto' show_count='yes']