Kansas City Royals: Could Eric Hosmer sign with the Cardinals

Thinking about Eric Hosmer not wearing a Kansas City Royals jersey is painful enough, but the recent buzz about him potentially signing with the St. Louis Cardinals has caused even more pain amongst Royals fans.

When it comes to sports franchises that I hate, there isn’t another team ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals on that list. They’re annoying, cocky, and honestly… The fans have talked the talk, but the team hasn’t walked the walk in the past few seasons.

My bashing of the Cardinals is relevant because Buster Olney of ESPN wrote up a post and mentioned how Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer could make sense with the Cardinals in St. Louis.

The good news about this post, however, is that Olney didn’t believe that there would be a whole lot of suitors for Hosmer’s services. In the past few months, Royals fans have figured that teams like the Red Sox and Yankees would be in on him, but Olney wrote that might not be the case.

"Hosmer theoretically fits the Red Sox or the Yankees, but each of those big-market teams have worked to get under the luxury-tax threshold. New York believes in Greg Bird’s talent and swing, and the potential savings of Bird over Hosmer is likely to keep the Yankees out of the Hosmer bidding. The Red Sox already have over $130 million committed in 2018 payroll before they pick up the options on closer Craig Kimbrel ($13 million) and Chris Sale ($12.5 million) and before they deal with the pricey arbitration cases of Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts.If he’s going to play baseball in the state of Missouri, it should be in Kansas City with the Royals."

That part is fantastic news for Royals fans, as the two big market squads are always threats to land the top free agents. Watching Greg Bird play for the Yankees this postseason has made me feel much more confident about that team not going in on Hosmer this winter.

Where that piece gets gross, however, is that Olney sees the Cardinals as a great fit for Hosmer. He writes that Matt Carpenter has been one of the Cardinals’ best hitters, but his defense is hurting them enough that they could opt to trade him, especially if they signed Hosmer.

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"The Cardinals have discussed the need to get better defensively, to get more athletic, and unquestionably, they would do so if they dealt Carpenter away and invested in Hosmer to be their everyday first baseman — and Hosmer would make the Cardinals’ pitching and the rest of the St. Louis infielders better with his defensive prowess."

So, there’s that. This is all speculation of course, but it’s safe to say no Royals fan would want to see Eric Hosmer go from one side of the state to the other. If he’s going to play baseball in the state of Missouri, it should be in Kansas City with the Royals.

As weeks have passed, I do feel somewhat confident that the Kansas City Royals could end up retaining Eric Hosmer. I had the same feeling in my gut when Alex Gordon was hitting free agency and that ended up working out (well, the deal getting signed, that is).

It’s hard not to be irritated by this speculative piece though. I can’t stand St. Louis or the Cardinals and seeing Hosmer go there would be the ultimate punch in the gut in my opinion. Yes, I’d almost rather he sign with an American League Central team than go to St. Louis. That’s how much I loathe that franchise.

As for now though, we have to just sit back and wait patiently to see how this offseason plays out. Free agency won’t begin until after the World Series is over, so we’ve still got several weeks before we can start stressing out about the rumors.

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