Royals Rumors: Eric Hosmer drawing heavy interest from Padres

Royals rumors haven’t been as busy as many of us thought they’d be, but one team is showing major interest in Eric Hosmer. That team is the San Diego Padres.

Kansas City Royals fans would love nothing more than for first baseman Eric Hosmer to don a Royals uniform in 2018 and beyond. It seems like it could be a tough task due to big market teams wanting to land the Royals hero.

As there always is in any sports free agency situation, a “mystery” team has emerged. The mystery team in the Eric Hosmer sweepstakes is the San Diego Padres, who according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, are serious about acquiring Hosmer.

"The attraction to Hosmer is thought to be based on a belief he’d make a great youngish leader for a team on the rise, and Hosmer’s bona fides in this area are well-known as the leader of a Royals team that twice made the World Series and won it once. And even if they aren’t going to win in the short-term, Hosmer would get a very long deal, meaning he’d potentially line up OK for them in terms of timing.More from Royals RumorsThe Royals Need to Extend Bobby Witt Jr. Immediately3 Players the Royals Will Trade Before the DeadlineThe Kansas City Royals Projected 2022 Starting Rotation3 Breakout Candidates for the Kansas City Royals in 2022MLB Commissioner Spoke on CBA, Does It Affect the Royals?"

When initially hearing the Padres were interested in Hosmer, I was a bit surprised. They’re a young team looking to totally rebuild and last year they barely had enough players to field a major league team. They’re also an organization who doesn’t exactly have the money to shell out on top players (much like the Royals).

A lot of Royals fans figured that teams like the Red Sox and Yankees would be the ones in play for Hosmer’s services, but hopefully (fingers crossed) Boston is out of the running. News surfaced on Wednesday that Boston is interested in trading for Jose Abreu of the White Sox. This would more than likely eliminate the Red Sox from signing Hosmer.

In Connor Byrne’s free agent profile on Hosmer (courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors), Byrne noted that the market for the first baseman might not end up being as strong as Scott Boras had thought. Unless Boras can convince a team to overspend, the Kansas City Royals could still have a shot at retaining their long time first baseman. How great would that be?

If the Padres are serious about signing Eric Hosmer, then the Royals should be too. The payrolls are similar and both teams could use Hosmer’s leadership moving forward.

Will the Royals rumors start to heat up soon? Hopefully if any news breaks on Hosmer, it has to do with the Kansas City Royals making a big effort to re-sign him.