Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval to have shoulder surgery

The Pablo Sandoval era with the Boston Red Sox just took another hit. The team announced Monday that the 29-year-old would undergo surgery on his injured left shoulder.

Sandoval has been in limbo since going on the disabled list in mid-April, but this news clears a few things up. When it was initially announced that Sandoval would be going on the DL, some wondered whether the Red Sox used the DL in order to avoid playing him regularly.

Some even wondered if Sandoval exaggerated the severity of the injury to get a much-needed break from the club. The fact that the team immediately put Sandoval on the DL before even giving him an MRI didn't help quell those conspiracy theories.

That's not the case. The news at least confirms that Sandoval was always dealing with a serious issue. Those crazy theories still could have kernels of truth to them, but the injury is legitimate.

Though the team has confirmed Sandoval will have surgery, they did not provide a timetable for his return. It doesn't sound like they'll release that information until after Sandoval undergoes his procedure, according to Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald.

	Evan Drellich @EvanDrellich
"The club will make comment and provide additional information about the surgery at the completion of the procedure.” — Red Sox on Pablo 4:47 PM - 2 May 2016

Shoulder surgery is a pretty serious issue, though, and it seems likely Sandoval will miss significant time. It's unclear whether that means a little over a month, or the entire season at the moment. Both things are possible depending on the injury and the surgery required to fix it. Early indications are that Sandoval could be facing a lengthy rehab.

From a team standpoint, this doesn't really change the Red Sox's outlook all that much. Sandoval was beat out by Travis Shaw during spring training and wasn't getting a ton of playing time before the injury. He would have been a nice piece to have off the bench, but only if his performance improved.

As of right now, it's just another sad story in Sandoval's short Boston tenure. The best way for Sandoval to work his way back into the good graces of the team and the fans was to perform on the field, and he won't have the chance to do that for a while now.

Given his performance and lack of conditioning, Sandoval already faced an uphill battle to win the fans over. Missing time will only make it harder for him to change that perception.