Darrell Moody: Pablo cruises back to SF, but why?

Some thoughts for a Sunday morning …

Our talented columnist Joe Santoro brought up the name Pablo Sandoval in his Friday column, and essentially said he wasn’t wild about the Giants signing the oft-injured veteran left-handed hitting third baseman

How valuable can Sandoval be if the Red Sox designated him for assignment, eating millions of dollars? Granted the Giants would get him for next to nothing, but let’s face it, Sandoval is through. He has never been the same player he was during the Giants’ three world championships.

Sandoval was never one to keep himself in shape, and in sports, that’s critical. Your body breaks down more often as you get older, especially if you don’t take care of it. At one time, Sandoval was a solid hitter and a better-than-average fielder. Those days are long gone.

The Giants’ season is done. Unless they went on a couple of lengthy winning streaks, they’re not making the playoffs. If that’s the case, the Giants should turn third base over to their younger players and see if any of them run with it.

That being said, I’d like to see the Giants stand pat, and not trade anybody. I know the Red Sox like Eduardo Nunez, but I’d like the Giants to turn that down. Maybe I’m not being realistic, but I want to chalk up this season to a lot of bad luck. The Giants have a solid core. Honestly, I’d get rid of Matt Cain or put him into the bullpen permanently. That’s the biggest move that should happen. Cain’s best days, unfortunately, are behind him.

Let’s face it, things went down the tubes when Madison Bumgarner was injured. That deflated the team.

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Somebody suggested expanding the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams. I’ve written often on the subject, but I would expand to 128. If my math is correct, it would add just a couple of weekends to the tournament.

The only way to do that is to eliminate the conference tournaments, which were designed to make more money and nothing else. In the power 5 conferences, I don’t often see second-division teams getting hot in the postseason tournament and getting an NCAA berth. The postseason tournament is more jockeying for seeding and nothing else.

Having a 128-team field would help the mid-majors immensely. If the NCAA were 128 teams last year, the Mountain West would’ve had probably three teams in the field. More teams means more upset possibilities, and that’s what people turn on the TV to see in March. They want to see a 15 beat a 2 or a 14 beat a 3. People live for that. That’s what March Madness is all about.

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Carmelo Anthony wants out of New York? Go figure. I figured when Phil Jackson left, Melo would like nothing more than to stay in the Big Apple.

I can’t see Melo in Houston. The Rockets like to run and gun, and Melo is like a black hole on offense. The ball, once it gets in his hands, tends to stay there for quite a while. The Rockets like to move the ball quickly. Not sure Melo fits in there.