Royals Rumors: Eric Hosmer agrees to eight-year deal with Padres
The Royals rumors biggest buzz this offseason has been about Eric Hosmer and that will be no more. Hosmer has agreed to sign with the San Diego Padres.
Eric Hosmer is no longer a member of the Kansas City Royals, as he and the San Diego Padres agreed to an eight-year deal on late Saturday night. The terms of the deal have not been released yet, but Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune broke the news.
Obviously Royals fans love Eric Hosmer and what he did for this organization, but an eight-year deal just did not seem worth it. He’s 28 years old now, which would put him at 36 at the end of his contract. The Royals have never been the type of team to shell out large contracts to people (and their recent ones haven’t gone so well), so I’m glad this didn’t go down for Kansas City.
San Diego had been the team in competition the most with the Royals this offseason for Hosmer’s services and now they’ll have their first baseman of the future. This will force the Royals to either stick someone like Hunter Dozier at first base or to potentially sign a veteran like Logan Morrison to fill that void.
Eric Hosmer has agreed to an 8-year contract with the #Padres that includes an opt-out after 5 years, source says. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 18, 2018
It’s hard to be angry with Eric Hosmer for not choosing to re-sign with the Royals. He hired Scott Boras as his agent back when he was 18 years old so that he could get the most amount of money and be in the best situation possible when he hit free agency. A decade later, the Padres appear to be his best bet for a successful future.
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Hosmer had a career year in 2017, slashing .318/.385/.498 with 25 home runs and 94 RBI. The season before he plated over 100 RBI and made it to the All-Star Game, which ironically enough, took place in San Diego.
The Padres are a little further along than the Royals are when it comes to rebuilding and perhaps that played into Hosmer’s decision. He might have figured that between the two teams vying for his services, San Diego was closer to contending for a title than the Royals were. That’s definitely fair to say.
Oh, and it’s not like San Diego is an awful place to live. That’s not a knock on Kansas City, but where would you rather live from November-February? I’d pick San Diego and that’s coming from someone who adores Kansas City and has lived here all my life.
At the end of the day, there’s no hard feelings toward Hosmer for this contract. He had to do what was best for him and that was to sign the best deal possible.
Best of luck in San Diego, Hoz! Thanks for everything you did in Kansas City!