Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports covers a lot of ground in his latest Inside Baseball column, beginning with a look at the Royals and the closing window of Kansas City’s core players (Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas). Hosmer is controllable through 2017, and while the Royals would love to keep him in K.C. forever, Heyman writes that Royals brass feels Hosmer and agent Scott Boras could seek $20MM+ on a 10-year deal. Those numbers may sound jarring for Hosmer, especially in light of Brandon Belt’s $79MM price tag this offseason, but a pair of GMs to whom Heyman spoke invoked contractual comparisons of Jason Heyward and Jacoby Ellsbury when looking ahead to Hosmer’s market. Hosmer will be entering his age-28 season when he hits the free-agent market, so he’ll certainly have youth on his side in addition to consistently improving performance.
More from the lengthy column…
- While the Diamondbacks have received trade interest in left-hander Patrick Corbin, GM Dave Stewart bluntly tells Heyman that he is “not moving Corbin.” Moving Corbin right now would be selling exceptionally low on a highly talented left-hander in the midst of a down season; Corbin looked like a budding star with the D-backs in 2013 and barely missed a beat in 2015 when returning from 2014 Tommy John surgery, but he’s currently sporting a 4.94 ERA on the season.
- The Orioles continue to hunt for starting pitching and have looked at Rich Hill and also checked in on Drew Pomeranz prior to his trade to the Red Sox. Baltimore, though, is pretty low on top-end prospects, which could make it difficult to submit the best offer for Hill, who’s been in high demand this summer.
- Astros right-hander Scott Feldman is available in trades, according to Heyman, and some rival executives believe that Houston would be open to moving Pat Neshek and Josh Fields despite their recent surge back into the division race. Feldman has handled a shift to the bullpen with aplomb and is currently sporting a 2.56 ERA with an improved 6.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate in 52 2/3 innings. He’s earning $8MM in the final season of a front-loaded three-year, $30MM contract. Neshek has a $7.8MM club option for the 2017 season ($500K buyout) and has a strong 2.54 ERA, though metrics like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all feel he’s been fortunate to post that mark this season. Fields is the opposite, with strong peripherals laying underneath an unsightly 6.89 ERA. He’s controllable through 2018.
- There “hasn’t been much buzz lately” when it comes to the potential trades of Brewers stars Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Braun, per Heyman, who notes that Lucroy again voiced at the All-Star festivities that he’d like to play for a contending club. Heyman adds that relievers Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress figure to draw plenty of interest, though there’s no firm indication that Milwaukee is open to dealing either of those controllable bullpen cogs.
- A club that spoke to the Rangers about trades came away with the impression that Joey Gallo isn’t very attainable. Gallo hasn’t been definitively mentioned as a trade candidate, but there’s been plenty of speculation about whether he could be included in a win-now move for the Rangers, especially in the wake of Adrian Beltre’s extension earlier this season. Heyman adds that the Rangers have investigated “basically all available starters,” which lines up with reports from recent weeks linking them to the likes of Ervin Santana, Pomeranz, Jake Odorizzi, Matt Moore and others.
If Eric Hosmer lands 200M+ over 10+ years, I will lose all faith in MLB FA. Hes not that good.
Not that good in the sense of a 200M deal.
That’s what he just said.
I’m with you. If that is really what his camp is looking for, the Royals should look to trade him as soon as they can.
He’s a better hitter than jay hey was at this point, and he got more than that per year. Personally, I think that will be a fair deal in a few years, though they should try to go lower right now
Heyward and ellsbury are terrible comparisons. Heyward is 26, ellsbury played elite defense at a premium position. Hosmer shares his position with prince fielder
hosmer isnt a DH.
that’s a poor comparison. one Hosmer doesn’t have a weight issue. but the biggest thing to me is the position actually maybe makes him warrant it more. the problem with the Hayward and ellsbury contracts is the length for primarily speed guys. the Yankees paid for a guy with one power season who can run but legs go first in baseball. I’d say for Hosmer I’d be ok with 8 years at 20 million or 10 at 17.
Hosmers not a dh
Hosmer is more like Freddie freeman that’s where the contract negotiations should start
20MM for 5 years seems more appropriate.
he’s getting a few more than 5 years. I would say 7 sounds more realistic
Wow, Stewart isn’t planning on moving Corbin? That’s a shocker considering he was just in talks to acquire a half dead infielder and some used carpet for him the other day. But I bet it was the refusal to go fully deceased on the prospect that eventually got the Backs to hang up first.
They paid A-ROD 250M… Well, maybe not the best comparison nowadays, but hey they gave it to him… Anything is possible…
You talking about the Rangers? Because that was about the Royals
Hard to argue that A-Rod wasn’t worth the contract when signed. He had won MVPs in the 3 of the previous 5 years. And it was actually fairly well set up considering the fact that the lowest salaries are paid the last two years…
That was 10 years ago when he was great.
Hosmer is already one of the worst defensive first basemen in baseball. How bad does it get as he gets even older? The age of first basemen getting huge deals is about over. You pay for scarcity. Poor defending first basemen who end up at Dh, but can hit are not scarce.
Hosmer is also in that monster free agent class.
Hosmer will be 1 year ahead of the monster class headlined by Harper and Machado. Teams might be looking to keep their options open heading into that year which doesn’t help. The batters in that class is headlined by Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Jay Bruce, and Carlos Santana.
I don’t think he’s worth it at all, but it’s the years that he won’t get. You don’t go 10 years for that kind of guy. $20MM is starting to be decent free agent money and he’ll likely get something in that range if he continues hitting, but it will probably be a 4 or 5 year deal unless he goes crazy with the power.
If I had to guess, I’d say he gets 80-120M in total. Good player, but in no means great and he plays a very easy (in terms of athleticism) defensive position.
To further elaborate, I think he’s missing the power numbers to be able to generate elite earnings. Especially consider when he starts to decline from age.
Bob — Hosmer has Gold Gloves for 2013, 14, 15. Worst defensive 1B in baseball how?
I was thinking the same thing.
Lol you can’t use Gold Gloves to determine defensive ability!
Jeter also won a bunch of Gold Gloves. Don’t let that be your metric. It’s a popularity contest
Let’s be honest, popularity or not, you don’t suck defensively if you are getting them.
Palmeiro won one in 1999 and he started 29 games. Let’s be honest, it’s not a true assessment of one’s fielding.
That is a fair point. Also though, Darwin Barney won one a few years back. He isn’t exactly a popular player
Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove at 1B starting 29 games in 1999……
he’s actually one of the elite first basemen in the game. the hardware he has proves this. and the best first baseman on the base path most likely. smart runner and quite fast for his position. I can only assume you don’t watch much baseball, or at least the AL.
Isn’t hosmer known for being one of the best defenders at first?
with Moreland leaving the Rangers as a FA and Fielder being just awful, Gallo is the Rangers 1b of the future. it would be foolish to trade him.
Lance, definitely agree with you. Especially after last year and what all they went thru to keep Gallo during the trading, he isn’t going anywhere. I hope they can keep Profar and have him take over 3rd once Beltre is gone
Remember a few years ago when the Rangers had another “untouchable” by the name of Matt Dominguez? Let’s face it, players are called “prospects” until they actually show they can produce. Gallo might be a great looking player, but he still hasn’t produced at the major league level.
I agree to an extent; you need young, cheap and most importantly good) players in order to be a successful ball club in today’s age in the MLB, but you can’t become so infatuated with your own player’s potential that you refuse to make a trade that makes sense (assuming one even did with Dominguez).
i think you mean Mike Olt. Rangers never had Matt
And even if he did mean that we traded him to Chicago so I don’t know what he is talking about. And Olt never hit close to 40 HRs in a minor league season
Marlins had Matt Dominguez then traded him to Houston for Carlos Lee
Germans? Pearl Harbor?
Don’t stop him he’s rolling
Would love to see the Braves go after Gallo. Offer one of the better pitching prospects plus any pieces that could help Texas this year. Im sure the Braves have at least asked about his availability
I thought Gallo played 1B. Freddie Freeman will be at first until he retires
Gallo can play third too.
Gallo plays 3rd but the Rangers are moving him to first because of the Beltre extension.
Gotcha. Yeah, the Braves def need a 3b for sure. Albies and Swanson will hopefully pan out at 2b and SS, but I am not a fan of Garcia manning 3rd
Nah , we arent worried about that in KC, The royals are the next mid 2000’s phillies , theyll play together and then fall together in a few years, Hoz will get locked up the Royals
If I had to guess, I would agree with that assumption. They kind of have that same vibe.