Red Sox announce Sandoval will start season on bench

Pablo Sandoval will enter the second season of his five-year, $90-million deal with the Boston Red Sox as a bench player.

Travis Shaw will be the club's third baseman on Opening Day, manager John Farrell announced Thursday, leaving Sandoval without a starting job.

Farrell said he met with both players ahead of making the news public, and acknowledged that defense was the deciding factor.

"We talked about it. I'm happy with the decision," Sandoval told reporters. "They made the decision. It's the right decision to help the team win. I'm going to be happy. I'm going to be ready on the bench, get ready for anything. I'm going to get ready during the season to do my job."

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Sandoval's first year in Boston was an extreme disappointment. The two-time All-Star slashed .245/.292/.366 with 10 home runs in 126 games.

He arrived at camp this year to continued concern regarding his weight and had a less than stellar spring both defensively and offensively. In 16 games, he hit .244/.279/.488 with two home runs while committing a team-leading four errors.

Shaw, who will earn $515,000 this year, put together a strong rookie season in 2015, hitting .270/.327/.487 with 13 home runs and 10 doubles in 65 games. The 25-year-old slashed .333/.377/.509 with a pair of home runs this spring.

"I'm not going to take this opportunity for granted," Shaw said.

With Sandoval joining Rusney Castillo, Chris Young, and Ryan Hanigan on the bench, the Red Sox will have committed more than $38 million this season to non-starting position players.