The Royals are discussing a contract extension with first baseman Eric Hosmer’s representatives, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports. Hosmer has set Opening Day as the deadline for negotiations, as he doesn’t want ongoing talks to distract him during the season. Should the two sides not reach an agreement by the Royals’ first game, Hosmer will test free agency after the season, though he did say he wants to remain in Kansas City.
“We are talking about certain extensions, stuff like that. But the way I see it right now, I just want to make it that far [to free agency]. And if I do make it that far without signing anything, I feel like I deserve that right to see what’s out on the market,” Hosmer said. “It’s not cutting this place out completely. It’s earning the right to see what else is out there, seeing my options, seeing what would be the best possible situation for me.”
Hosmer is far from the only Royals star scheduled to hit the open market next winter, though he appears to be the only one thus far contacted by the team about an extension. Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas both tell Rosenthal that they haven’t been in talks about a new deal. (It can be inferred that Alcides Escobar, another pending free agent, also hasn’t been in negotiations with the club. Escobar was described by Rosenthal as “less of a priority” than the other three, given how Raul Mondesi Jr. could step in as Kansas City’s shortstop of the future.) Since Spring Training has just begun, of course, it stands to reason that Royals GM Dayton Moore will at least touch base with these players about potentially remaining in K.C. beyond the 2017 campaign.
It could be that Hosmer drew the early attention from the Royals because his potential extension could be the most complicated. The club expects Hosmer and agent Scott Boras to seek a ten-year deal, owing to both Hosmer’s young age (he is entering his age-27 season), the number of big-market teams that could be looking for first base help next winter.
Most players prefer to avoid having extension talks drag into the season, and in Hosmer’s case, he has some extra financial security — he has already earned $29.75MM through his four seasons of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player, including a two-year extension and a $12.25MM deal for 2017 to avoid arbitration.
It should also be noted that Hosmer could use another full year to really establish himself as a player worthy of a mega-deal, as the first baseman has been rather inconsistent over his first six seasons. Hosmer posted fWARs of 3.2 in 2013 and 3.4 in the Royals’ championship season of 2015, though he sandwiched those strong years in between three years of (according to the fWAR calculation) not even replacement-level play. Hosmer posted a -1.7 fWAR in 2012, 0.0 in 2014 and -0.2 last season, when he hit .266/.328/.433 with 25 homers over 667 plate appearances. Despite that seemingly good slash line, Hosmer was barely above average in terms of runs created (101 wRC+) and he was rated as a below-average baserunner and defender. After mostly good grades in terms of Defensive Runs Saved and UZR/150 in the previous three years, Hosmer’s first base work took a tumble as per those two metrics in 2016 (minus-6 DRS, -6.1 UZR/150). Hosmer’s contact rate also declined last year, while he posted a career-worst 19.8% strikeout rate.
With so many key free agents, the coming offseason has been seen as a turning point for a Royals team that is trying to remain competitive while remaining fiscally responsible. This winter, Kansas City has dealt two pending free agents in Wade Davis and Jarrod Dyson while extending another (Danny Duffy). While the odds of re-signing everyone is next to impossible, Duffy’s extension would imply that K.C. also isn’t going to let everyone walk and go into a full rebuild, though one or two of the free agents could be moved at the trade deadline if the Royals aren’t in contention for a playoff berth.
10 year deal? lmao, gtfo with that nonsense.
Sounds like someone hasn’t adjusted for inflation!
Hoping Moustakas hits free agency … Would love to see the Dodgers go after him to replace an aging Turner and provide Moustakas with an opportunity to play in front of family and friends in SoCal
Didn’t Turner just sign like a 4 or 5 year deal?
The Dodgers just inked JT to a 4 year deal so I don’t really see that happening, maybe the Halos
I wouldn’t want him as my 1B for 2 years, let alone 10. And I’m a Mets fan! Our 1B is garbage…
I’m a royals fan and he should be getting paid more than 8 mil a year
Shouldn’t
At least he can make a good throw from first to home.
If he wants 10 years, he should be expecting a 5 million dollar salary lmao
The Royals would be smart to just let Hosmer walk. There is a very good chance he will be overpaid this year, let alone in free agency.
As a royals fan I want them to trade cain moose and his for prospects (cf and 1b) because they have dozier and cuthbert at third
I’m usually pretty quick to reason that it’s Boras’ job to get his clients the best deal possible – and he’s going to overshoot the baseline every single time, in order to allow room to bargain down. But…10 years for Hosmer? That’s ridiculous. A team would be mad to even go 4 or 5 for him.
A 1B with an average slash line, and no other real skills to go along with it, isn’t worth much.
Agree on all of your points. He is a good player, but 10 years is crazy
Whoa. Hosmer over Moustakas? Hosmer isn’t really that good and Moustakas plays the premium defensive position. First basemen are a heck of a lot easier to find.
Yep. Moustakas should be their priority. Then maybe sign Escobar if he can still play (didn’t watch them much last year).
Hosmer is Mauer waiting to happen. Cain is the type of player who doesn’t age well.
Escobar is terrible
Fair enough. Then maybe don’t sign him.
Keep Moustakas. Trade Cain and Hosmer. Cross your fingers that Soler becomes the next Nelson Cruz.
Moose is a low BA/OBP 3B, provides good D, and has never made it through a full season.
Except for 2012, 2014 and 2015 when Moustakas made it through a full season.
2015 was his only good season though that was healthy
He changed his hitting approach that year, trying to hit oppo
Hosmer is worth 4/$50or something like that… 10 years is freaking insane. And what big market teams will be looking for 1st base help next winter? What am I missing here? Boras has lost his mind.
7 years 100 million, he’s a franchise player in almost every way except actual performance. If he performed better, he’d make 150 million over that time period. The Royals get good, not great performance from Hosmer and he gets a lot of fans in the stadium. It’s not all pay for play, it’s pay for total value returned. Hosmer brings a lot of value to the team.
This is by far the dumbest comment I’ve seen on this website in all my time here. “He’s a franchise player in almost every way except actual performance.” Are you serious?! Lol! Actual performance is literally the only thing that makes someone a franchise player. Hosmer doesn’t bring fans to the park, winning does. That stadium filled up because the Royals won a World Series and got to another. Hosmer isn’t worth anywhere near $100 mil. You need a reality check.
Will you pay me 100 million dollars to be a likeable person?
First, you have to be likable 😉
In no way, shape or form does Hosmer come close to bringing back $100mil in value – on the field or off it.
“he’s a franchise player in every way except actual performance”
in other words, he isn’t. study after study after study shows winning draws fans. Not individual players.
I love all the players on the Royals roster since I’m a huge fan, but Hosmer isn’t worth spending the huge amount of money that Boras will ask for. His batting average isn’t that good for a 1st baseman. Maybe this year during the draft they can find one. Also if they are out of contention by the trade deadline, do you think they should try and trade him to see what they get?
Below average first basemen don’t have much trade value. Moose and Cain, however, could bring back solid packages at the deadline.
If KC is under .500 at the all star break, they will be looking to sell all their pending ufas, including lorenzo cain, moose and hosmer. This will be interesting
I can see Boras looking for 10 years with 8 opt outs. What a joke. This guy is a nice compliment to any team; but he isn’t close to being a “Franchise” player.
“Hey guys, you’re looking good tonight! Man, that clubhouse spread was awesome! I haven’t had Boursin in forever. Hey, skip, are you using a new conditioner? The hair looks great.”
The club expects Hosmer and agent Scott Boras to seek a ten-year deal
Well if boras ever fails as an agent he has a back up career as a comedian
And how many teams are really going to be looking for a 1b, especially one like hosmer. There were quite a few options on the market this offseason that are similar and had to settle for low $ short term deals.
It makes sense for the Royals to come here first. Boras will ask for the moon, the Royals (and their fans) will know the price is too high, and they can move on to other players who are more affordable and might actually be move valuable. A competent but utterly replaceable player.
Royals need to be real here. There window has slightly closed since their championship and the Ventura tragedy capped it. Their window slams shut next year so if I was Moore I’d look to contend for the first half and if there isn’t an amazing chance to make the playoffs, sell off very hard. Hosmer, moustakas, Cain, Escobar, and they could speed up the rebuilding process by 2-3 years
Better off paying James Loney league minimum to do the exact same thing.
It only takes 1 dumb gm to sign a contract like this so I guess you can’t totally count out some dumb contract for him, but if he seriously thinks he’s getting anywhere close to 10 years I can’t wait to watch that unfold next season. The spin from Boras should be quite entertaining.
The moment 10 years was mentioned, KC should have just told Boras to come back when he was serious.
The moment you realize he is basically James Loney
Salvadore Perez, Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera are the franchise players.
This off-season has shown me that I am not very good at predicting what GMs will do. I think that Eric Hosmer is the only player that the Royals would attempt to extend. However, Scott Boras prefers all his clients become free agents. Wile Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar have already peaked and Mike Moustakas will not worth what he and Boras will demand, the Royals have replacements for them in place.
Anyone who argues that Hosmer isn’t the franchise player isn’t from Kansas City and obviously hasn’t watched very many Royals games. Yes, it’s true that his baseball card stats don’t jump off the page, but if you’ve spent any time in this town, watching this team, you’d understand what Eric Hosmer means to the team and the fan base. You might think it’s stupid, but for the “lost generation” of Royals fans born in the 80s like me, Hosmer is what George Brett was to our parents, even if his stats don’t make him look like a Hall of Famer. If/when he leaves, it will be the most upset this city has ever been over the loss of a player, Royals or Chiefs.
All that not withstanding, I’m not saying I think we should give him 10 years $200m, I can see what the Ryan Howard contract did to the Phillies as well as anyone else. It’s a major risk for a player that admittedly does not have a history of elite production.
Secondly, I do not understand everyone on here saying Moose is better than Hos. I like Moose and I think he’s going to be a good player for us this year, but he has had one good year, two slightly below average years and two AWFUL years. Yes, he’s turned into a solid defender, but if we’re going to pick one, I pick Hos every time because of the reasons above and, perhaps more importantly, because we know Cheslor Cuthbert is capable of replacing Moose. We do not have anyone in the organization even close to being capable of replacing Eric Hosmer, statistically or otherwise.
Esky can walk because he’s not that good anyway and we have serviceable replacements. Cain cain walk because he’s on the wrong side of 30 and has never proven he can play a full season. Great player when he’s on the field, but his tendency to get hurt isn’t going to get better as he gets deeper into his 30s.
Paying Hosmer 100mil+ would cripple the franchise regardless of whether he produces that kind of value. I’m from kc and yes it would suck to lose Hosmer but we simply can’t afford him.
Eric Hosmer will never be a franchise player because he’s represented by Scott Boras. Never mind anything else. He maybe a local favorite but, he is not a super star. He’s never had a great offensive year and although he has 4 Gold Gloves, he deserved only one in 2013 (But I thought Justin Morneau should’ve gotten it instead) and perhaps in 2015 because he was the only good defensive 1B in the AL (I don’t believe GGs should be awarded because of that reason).
do you want to have another 30 year drought? because extending guys based on likeability is how you get a 30 year drought. Hosmer is easily replaceable. Set a price (I’d say 4/70 tops) and don’t budge.
-I grew up in Missouri, went to minor league games to watch Moose/Hosmer/Myers/Lamb/Crow/etc.