Royals Rumors: Eric Hosmer not worth eight-year contract

Obviously Royals rumors are all fixating on Eric Hosmer because shockingly, the first baseman is still unsigned.

The latest report came from Jon Morosi on Wednesday and it basically said Eric Hosmer‘s camp were looking for more than seven years for their client. This could explain why Hosmer is still without a team, as maybe the suitors are strongly debating over whether or not Hosmer is worth that kind of deal.

Personally, I don’t think he is. It’s not that I don’t love Eric Hosmer or don’t appreciate what he brought to the Kansas City Royals, but this is an organization that has typically stayed away from giving out these kind of contracts in the past.

While the Royals weren’t winners until the 2013-2015 seasons, it was because of how they built up their team. They didn’t sign flashy free agents. The Royals drafted talented prospects and waited for them to make their big league debuts and help the club compete.

Morosi did point out in his tweet that Hosmer is only 28 years old, which is a good age to be hitting the free agent market. An eight-year deal would mean he’s 36 by the time the deal is over and that just seems crazy to give out that kind of a contract.

There’s a reason MLB teams don’t shell out eight or more year deals now and it’s because players seldom live up to them. Just take a look at the tweet below.

Jason Heyward is the most recent example, as the Chicago Cubs gave him an eight-year deal worth $184 million before the 2016 season began. In his two seasons as a Cub, Heyward has a .243 batting average at the plate and has hit 18 home runs.

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Heyward was even younger when he got this deal than Hosmer is now (the two are the same age) yet has not lived up to the expectations. He won a ring with the Cubs in year one and did improve in year two, but that’s probably a contract that the Cubs wouldn’t mind having back.

Robinson Cano signed a ten-year deal with the Mariners before the 2014 season and he’s been pretty good there so far. It is worth noting, however, that Seattle is going into year five of the deal and they’ve still yet to make the postseason while Cano has been a Mariner. His batting average and home run numbers also dropped in year four of his deal.

While that deal doesn’t look like a bust yet, Seattle has six more years left of Cano and he’s 35 years old at the moment. Not exactly ideal when looking ahead and hoping to make a push at the playoffs.

The Kansas City Royals have a chance to avoid making this mistake with Eric Hosmer. They already made the mistake with Alex Gordon and his legacy is going to be somewhat damaged by his poor performance over the last two years.

Let’s not do that with Eric Hosmer. Let the Cardinals or the Padres overpay for Hosmer’s services, so that Royals fans can remember him fondly.

I don’t want to be looking back in 2018 five or six years from now, wondering what it would be like if the Royals hadn’t given Hosmer a huge amount of money for eight or nine years. I want to look back and remember him for being the guy who stole home plate in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series.

It’ll be hard seeing Eric Hosmer move on, but that’s what has to happen here. The Kansas City Royals can’t give him more than seven years or it could really ruin their chances at adding other players in the future.