I feel like the Giants would be better served keeping him at 3b. There is a considerable lack of 3b prospects in the system and with Posey coming along shortly not to mention the impending arrival of AnVil at 1b (maybe 2010?) moving Sandoval to third permanently would give the Giants another intriguing bat in the infield. Don’t get me wrong Anvil is less than a sure thing but that doesn’t change the value of Sandoval playing third.

If I may indulge in a little rosterbation the possible 2011 (perhaps even 2010) line up for the Giants has a lot of interesting players.
C- Posey
1b- Villalona
2b- Gillaspie (Sabean has already hinted at moving him here)
3b- Sandoval
ss- Burriss
LF- Lewis
CF- Rowand
RF- Shierholtz

and with a possible rotation of:
Lincecum
Cain
Sanchez
Bumgarner
Alderson

I give this a .001 percent chance of coming together all at the same time but still.

The Giants biggest hole is at 3rd base and with Travis Ishikawa in the fold at 1st base (who should be playing everyday at 1st until further notice), Sandoval should warrant a good long look at 3rd while handling the backup duties at catcher until Posey arrives, which could be by the end of 2009 at the earliest. He is most valuable to the Giants at 3rd and catcher.

Also, I haven’t seen much discussion of his L/R splits, but it appears that Sandoval is much stronger against RHP than LHP. He still seems to hit for average, but the on base and power numbers aren’t that good. He’s a natural lefty, so that perhaps explains it.

Buster Posey may force Pablo off of catcher in time, but he has the ability to provide adequate defense at that position should he stay there.

It would be best if he settled on one position, but that isn’t really an option right now with SF. In the short term, it would be best if he could stick at third, but it isn’t clear he can do that (bravesin07 is incorrect about why though; Sandoval isn’t slow, and is quite athletic, especially so, considering his size). Catcher would be the best position for him to play, as he shows some skill at the position, and stands a good chance at improving at aspects of the position in which he is substandard(he hasn’t been playing it very long).

However, Catcher probably wont’ work long term, at least with the Giants, since Posey is being fast-tracked. Villalona, though a few years away, might end up at either 1B or 3B (and yes, apparently the giants still consider him a 3B, but thought his bat would progress faster than his defense, and didn’t want kept back at a level due to defense: he may still end up at 3B; he still routinely takes grounders there).

I suspect they will keep shuttling him between the positions and have him settle at whatever position a prospect seems not to be working out at.

He was quite a butcher at third in Augusta, and while he has the arm for the position, he didn’t have great range or ability to get to balls to either side. He would be a terrible defender at the hot corner. I haven’t seen anything yet to convince me otherwise.

He was kept in San Jose to work with Steve Decker at catcher. The team clearly saw a need and desire for him to stick at catcher. Not surprisingly, the need for him to be there was reduced after the draft, though. However, he continued to play there at Connecticut even after the draft.

Also, not noted: he has gained more than 50 pounds in the last three years. His conditioning is my personal single biggest concern about his long-term future. He was listed as 180 lbs in 2005, and is now list at 246. Granted, that’s from age 19 to 22, but that’s still a huge weight gain, and anyone who sees him knows it’s not to his arms and shoulders.

I will also say that I’ve never seen anyone have as much fun on the baseball field as he does. One of my favorite moments is hearing about him hijacking the groundskeeper’s cart in San Jose and putting around the stadium saying “Vroom Vroom!”….going about 2 MPH. He always has a smile on his face.

I honestly believe his best value is as a catcher, especially with his offense but also in that he’s improved in his receiving and has an excellent arm that has gotten incredibly accurate over the last couple of years. He could get the most value overall out of playing that position, those his lifespan there could be limited with his conditioning. For the Giants, he’d be best suited at first. His defense would hurt least there, though he has a lot of competition in Ishikawa and Bowker.

The Giants might be well-served to let him play catcher at Fresno if Posey isn’t there and see if they can draw trade interest in him, unless they can commit him to first. Whatever they do, he’d be best utilized working on just one position all year, something he hasn’t been able to do since he was 18.

I don’t see a big issue with Pablo rotating positions to get him in the lineup. His bat will be his big league calling card, not his defense at any position. To be fair, I’ve only see Pablo in person once - he played C in San Jose game earlier this year vs Lancaster. I have seen him play both 1B and 3B on television.

In person, I was impressed by Pablo’s arm, but was disappointed in his game management. Pablo became very rattled when Lancaster C Jon Still would step out of the box to delay P Tim Alderson’s rhythm. The problem became enough that Steve Decker actually called Pablo to the mound to get him back in the game defensively.

If Pablo can play 3B, that would be ideal with Posey on the way. However, I don’t think Pablo can play 3B long term. He does have some quickness, but in my opinion, his lateral movement is not that good as a 3B. Given his size, I don’t see this getting much better over time.

I think San Francisco does well to get his bat in the lineup any way possible right now. Catching 1-2 days a week makes tons of sense for his future value and for flexibility in the lineup. If the Giants move Molina, then let’s get Sandoval back there full-time now. If he can play some 3B now given the need in SF, great, but in my wildest imagination, I can’t see Pablo as a long-term 3B in the bigs. Long term, I think 1B becomes his primary role with his bat keeping him as a viable MLB player. Pablo’s bat will make him an impact player at the major league level, not his defense.