Yes, yes, yes. You’ve heard this before. You’re skeptical, and you should be, until you see what he looks like in spring training.

Nevertheless, I’ve heard from a number of folks that Pablo Sandoval’s conditioning work at a private facility in Arizona is paying dividends.

This is crucial for the Giants and Sandoval’s career. As instructor Shawon Dunston said, “I hope he’s doing well because he’s (like) our new free agent. If he gets back to his 2009 form, watch out.”

Dunston has not seen Sandoval this winter, but Rich Aurilia has.

Aurilia lives in Phoenix and told me today he saw Pablo at a shopping mall just before Christmas. Sandoval told him he had lost 17 pounds.

Last week, Sandoval was in Venezuela and held a news conference at a baseball museum. According to reports in the Venezuelan papers, Sandoval said he lost 16 “kilos” with the goal of dropping 24 by the start of spring training. I’ve been told that something got lost in the translation and he meant “pounds.” Sixteen kilos would be more than 35 pounds. Twenty-four kilos would be nearly 53 pounds. Nobody’s expecting Sandoval to slim down that much.

“When I saw him he looked great. He really did,” Aurilia said. “I think his mind-set hopefully has changed in a sense that he knows what’s at stake not only for the team but his own individual health and career. That’s where the maturity process has to come, when you as an individual have to decide to do whatever you can to help your team and help yourself.”

Sandoval is working with decathlete Dan O’Brien, at his own expense. Aurilia said Sandoval told him he has been there “most of the weeks” during the offseason.

“He said he’s just working hard,” Aurilia said. “From his comments he seemed really in tune this year on keeping the weight off as opposed to last season. Sometimes a lack of success is a good tool to get you motivated. Maybe him not playing as much in Septembrer or down the stretch, maybe that had something to do with changing his outlook about keeping the weight off.”

Or, maybe that threat from GM Brian Sabean about a demotion to the minors did the trick.

Sandoval’s conditioning is half the equation. A lot of his offensive decline in 2010 — his batting average plummeted to .268 from .330 the prior year — had to do with approach. Until he starts swinging in spring training, we won’t know if there’s any hope for improvement there.