Royals Rumors: Re-signing Eric Hosmer could mean trading other players

Royals rumors have all been centered around the future of first baseman Eric Hosmer. If Hosmer re-signs, the Royals could very well begin to field trade offers for their other players.

Kansas City Royals fans didn’t expect Eric Hosmer to still be left unsigned this deep into free agency, but here we are. There’s one month to go until spring training and Hosmer is still without a team.

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe wrote an article on Saturday detailing Scott Boras’ clients and what to expect from them in these coming weeks. Cafardo wrote this regarding Hosmer,

"If the Royals are able to re-sign him, they’ll begin to entertain more seriously some of the inquiries they’ve received for lefty Danny Duffy, closer Kelvin Herrera, and righty Jason Hammel."

While trading players isn’t a big surprise to any Royals fan, it does seem a bit odd that keeping Hosmer would increase the chances of the team sending guys elsewhere. Wouldn’t it make more sense to trade them if Hosmer isn’t retained? I guess it’d depend on how big the contract was, but you’d think keeping Hosmer would then put the team in a better position to compete in 2018.

Out of those three players mentioned, Danny Duffy is the only one who won’t be a free agent next year. He took less money to stay with Kansas City before this past season and has a very affordable contract, hence why there’s a lot of traction surrounding him.

Kelvin Herrera and Jason Hammel will both be free agents next year, so shopping them wouldn’t be the least bit surprising. Neither had great numbers in 2017, but Herrera can be a reliable setup man wherever he goes and Hammel is a true innings eater in the starting rotation.

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Getting back to Hosmer, who exactly is still in the sweepstakes to land the first baseman? Cafardo wrote,

"The Royals appear to be in the running for Hosmer, along with San Diego and a possible mystery team (St. Louis?)."

None of this is really news. We all knew the Royals would be in it until the very end and the Padres, who initially appeared to be the “mystery team”, have stayed in the race.

The two offer similar situations for Hosmer with rebuilds on the horizon, but the difference is that the Royals know Hosmer and vice versa. San Diego might be closer to contending, but they’re still probably a few seasons away.

As for St. Louis, I really hope Hosmer doesn’t go there, but if he wants to go to a team that can win games right away, then they’re the best fit out of the three teams listed. The Cardinals will have to make a splash in free agency this offseason in order to compete with the Cubs in the NL Central and acquiring Hosmer might be the big splash they’re looking for.

The Royals rumors haven’t been as hot as many of us were expecting this winter, but the dominos will begin to fall soon and when they do, all of the other pieces should fall into place not long after.