Royals Rumors: Royals not optimistic about re-signing Eric Hosmer
With some dominoes falling in Major League Baseball, the Royals rumors should be getting hotter by the hour. The latest is about the Royals’ biggest free agent in Eric Hosmer.
The Kansas City Royals knew that keeping Eric Hosmer beyond 2017 would cost them big bucks and now it appears that they’re not all that encouraged about retaining the first baseman. Jon Heyman tweeted on Saturday (see below) that the team was “discouraged” about their pursuit of Hosmer.
The Royals haven’t typically been the kind of team that shells out a lot of money to one player. That used to be because they couldn’t afford to, but that seemingly changed when they gave Alex Gordon an outlandish deal that he has not lived up to.
Kansas City also signed pitcher Ian Kennedy to a massive contract, so the money is there for sure. The question, do the Royals want to pay Eric Hosmer like a superstar? Signs have been pointing to them rebuilding so they might lean towards saving their money and moving on without their hero first baseman.
royals seem a bit discouraged about their hosmer pursuit. seem to believe there are much bigger deals elsewhere. (though it's worth noting they didn't think they'd be able to keep alex gordon 2 years ago)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 9, 2017
Hosmer is coming off of a career year in which he slashed .318/.385/.498 with 25 home runs and 94 RBI. He appeared in all162 games a season ago and won his fourth Gold Glove to go along with all of his accomplishments.
While the San Diego Padres have emerged as an ideal suitor for Hosmer, it’s much more likely that a big dog like the Boston Red Sox wind up inking Hosmer. The Red Sox make the most sense for Hosmer, as they have a need at first base and Hosmer’s girlfriend lives in Boston.
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I will say this though… If the Padres end up signing Hosmer, Royals fans should be upset. Both teams have similar payrolls and if San Diego can afford Hoz’s services, so can the Royals. It does not appear like that’s the case however, as Heyman’s tweet indicates.
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Heyman does touch on something interesting though, and that’s how the whole Alex Gordon deal played itself out. Royals personnel didn’t seem the most optimistic about keeping Gordon after the 2015 season, but look how that turned out.
My point being that even though the Royals are “discouraged” about how things are going with re-signing Hosmer right now, that doesn’t mean they’re out of it. As far as I’m concerned, as long as the Padres are in the running to sign Hosmer, then so are the Royals.
Royals rumors should be picking up soon, especially with Giancarlo Stanton landing with the Yankees (finally). Hosmer could take awhile to sign somewhere, but when he does, hopefully it’s with the Royals. Rustin Dodd even tweeted that the Royals would want Hosmer to come back and be a part of their rebuild, so it’s not over yet, my friends.
Eric Hosmer means so much to this Royals organization and Dayton Moore is going to try his hardest to keep him in a Royals uniform moving forward.