In February 2018, with the Padres amid a rebuild and attempting to move closer to relevance, the club made the polarizing decision to sign free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer to a franchise-record contract. Although there seemingly wasn’t a wide market for the longtime Royal’s services, the Padres gave Hosmer an eight-year deal worth $144MM.
Hosmer stood out at times in Kansas City, including during a World Series-winning campaign in 2015, but fell on his face in other seasons. As a result of Hosmer’s inconsistency as a Royal, there were plenty who either loved or hated the Padres’ choice to hand him a headline-stealing payday. Those who opposed it gained the upper hand in its first year, in which Hosmer hit a meek .253/.322/.398 in 677 plate appearances. He was a below-average offensive player by wRC+ (95) and less than a replacement-level performer by fWAR (minus-0.1).
Considering the beginning of a long-term contract is when a player is supposed to be providing the most value, Hosmer’s woeful 2018 production was downright alarming. The Padres needed a rebound from Hosmer coming into this season, and while he has gotten better, the respected veteran still hasn’t given the Friars much bang for their buck on the field.
The best thing you can say about Hosmer the Padre is that he has been available more than most players. He piled up 157 appearances a year ago and has participated in 86 of the Padres’ 87 games in 2019. Along the way this season, Hosmer has slashed .293/.343/.45 with 13 home runs – just five fewer than last year – over 364 trips to the plate. He has also upped his weighted on-base average/expected wOBA from matching .310s last season to .341/.334 this year. Likewise, the 29-year-old’s 111 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR count as vast improvements over what he offered in those categories in 2018. They’re still far from great, however. In fact, the average major league first baseman has posted a 110 wRC+ this season. Of course, the average major league first baseman isn’t on a $20MM salary this year or locked into a big-money deal into his 30s.
While FanGraphs credits Hosmer with making more hard contact and less soft contact than he did last season, he continues to amass too many ground balls and too few fly balls. The typical batter hits grounders at an approximately 43 percent rate and flies 36 percent of the time. Hosmer’s at 57.3 and 21.0 in those areas in 2019. It’s hard to muster much in the power department with that combination, as Hosmer’s lifetime ISO (.155) and current ISO (.164) help prove. And Hosmer’s one of the majors’ slowest runners, making his grounder-heavy skill set even less conducive to success. The ongoing grounder overload hasn’t enabled Hosmer to take advantage of a 2019 hard-hit rate which Statcast places in the majors’ 87th percentile or an exit velocity that betters 71 percent of his peers.
Because Hosmer’s also still not walking much (6.9 percent this year, 8.2 lifetime), he continues to rely on a high batting average on balls in play to help buoy his numbers. That has paid off at times – including this season to an extent, as Hosmer’s .337 BABIP represents a 35-point increase over 2018’s. However, during seasons in which Hosmer’s BABIP has sat around average or worse, his production has typically fallen well short of expectations.
In further inauspicious news, the lefty-hitting Hosmer’s amid his second straight abysmal season against same-handed pitchers. Southpaws limited him to an unsightly .179/.240/.287 line in his first year as a Padre. Hosmer has bumped that slash to .250/.320/.324 this season, yet wRC+ indicates it’s still 24 percent worse than average. Struggles versus lefties aren’t anything new for Hosmer, who has stumbled to a .668 OPS and an 81 wRC+ against them over the course of his career.
A season and a half into his contract, the Padres’ choice to pay a premium for an inconsistent platoon first baseman continues to look like a head-scratcher. That’s all the more true when considering they already had well-compensated first baseman Wil Myers on the roster. Myers is now limited to the outfield, where he hasn’t garnered consistent playing time of late because he’s an ill fit in center and the Padres have superior hitters Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes manning the corners.
This has been a positive overall season for long-suffering San Diego, which is hovering around .500 and finds itself in playoff contention. The team still hasn’t benefited as hoped from the Hosmer signing, though, and there aren’t clear signs that’s going to change.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Still a head scratcher.
Not really. Hosmer was coming off of 2 solid years and was known as a great clubhouse guy. Not sure why this writer didn’t mention it but KC offered Hosmer a 7 year deal. I don’t remember the exact amount but I think it was in the $130-140M range. The Padres wanted him to coincide with their rebuild so they tacked on 1 more year and a little extra $$$
Still a head scratcher though. I know it’s easy to look back and say this contract was butt, but this contract was butt from day one.
He does have an outstanding glove, never been excited about dudes bat, can’t forget that he’s an established player with a ring, sometimes you have to take a risk and hope he stays true to form.
He also got overpaid to try to attract others like when the Knicks got Amare. Didn’t have a chance to work in NY as he couldn’t stay on the court. While money talks, would Machado have signed if Hosmer wasn’t there? Management likely pointed to the Hosmer contract when talking about future plans during the MM negotiations.
The Padres offered Machado the most money. That is the reason he signed there. Hosmer has little to do with it when he could have played with his best friend and his brother in law in Chicago. The players had nothing to do with his signing.
@thecoffinnail thank you! I hate it when idiots say that Machado wouldn’t have signed with SD if they hadn’t signed Hosmer first. Cuz apparently the contract SD offered wasn’t way better than all the other contracts he was offered. And apparently there wasn’t a huge brawl between the Royals and Orioles when they were on those teams.
Here’s a video of a Dodgers fan heckling Machado at last night’s game.
twitter.com/mosheL451/status/1146981503986876416
He said “They didn’t want to pay me.” “They” being the Dodgers. It’s abundantly clear why he signed with the Padres. Had nothing to do with Hosmer and everything to do with money. And no, I don’t fault Manny or any other player for chasing the money.
Bingo
Glove first first baseman do not warrant 8 year 144 million dollar contracts. I didnt understand the signing last year . I never really understood why people talked him up so much. Because he got a few big hits in the playoffs? That’s great but Luis sojo , Brian doyle and Ricky ledee all had big postseason hits
Other thing I just saw regarding Hosmer was ” hes a great clubhouse guy ” that’s a wonderful thing . I prefer people not be jerks but I’m sure I’d make a great clubhouse guy too..doesn’t mean I deserve a 9 figure contract . Especially if I’m a below league average hitter
Glove first? He´s been below replacement in 1B for a while now. Need a good clubhouse guy? There´s tons lying around for the minimum. This was a huge blunder for the Padres
Right..that’s exactly what I said. I guess you read the first sentence of what I wrote and that was it
The signal.that they are serious about putting s competitive team on the field, paying free agents, supplementing their strong far. – was helpful in signing Machado. You can be no more certain that it had nothing to do with Machado signing than I can be certain that it was.
Machado signed because of money. That’s it. He’d have gone back to Baltimore if they paid him.
I’ve never taken a job because someone else I knew worked there . I went for the places I felt had the best room for growth ( liken that to winning) and the employer that was willing to pay me the most .
Machado was going to the highest bidder. Total nonsense the Hosmer signing played a part in Machado. Hosmer was a year before . What if Machado resigned with LA?
The Padres were gambling with 144 million dollars ?
They signed Hosmer for his leadership and that’s it. If they expected anything more on the field than what they’re getting this year they’re delusional.
And thats what separates the competent teams from those who are not. Needing to sign leadership for 140 mill? What a joke of a contract. LA has David Freese who hits better than Hosmer for a fraction of the cost. Braves got McCann to be leader for 2 million. Thats as far fetched as it is to say Jason Heywards contract is not bad because he had a good locker room speech in game 7
Well said!
Disagree. Team was trying to convince the union they are going in a different direction. Two straight years of big contracts. Combine that with the young talent they have and they are trying to change the culture in SD. Not saying these were the best signings but kudos to the team for trying. Having the best weather only goes so far, Team has been a loser for a long time. With what they’ve done as long as they don’t change course, they should be in the running for upcoming free agents if they want them. Not true in the recent past,
Bingo
It’s not that far fetched. There was a huge momentum shift in Cleveland’s favor. If Heyward’s speech got the Cubs fired up during that rain delay then the Cubs have no regrets and would do it all over again.
Unless not signing Heyward meant the Cubs win in 5 or 6 instead of 7?
We can play this game for either side.
TIL that leadership is worth $144m
Still the worst deal ever, especially after acquiring a short-to-MLB 1B in Naylor, who was forced to play out of position.
Yeah, totally worse than the Chris Davis deal
On behalf of all of Baltimore, thank you tharrie0820.
At least he should still be able to run to first by the end of his contract unlike Cano and Pujols.
Naylor sucked at first
Yeah…..worse than Chris Davis, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Robby Cano, and Albert Pujols?
Love seeing the lust of bad contracts and no one until now has mentioned Rusney, Panda and Hanley. While not the worst, taken together and they’re up there. Yanks and Mets aren’t immune. Ellsbury anyone. As for the Mets, I just saw their annual Bobby Bonilla payment was just due (until 2035!).
I couldn’t agree more. Sandoval’s contract was horrid. Even the Sox signing Price for what they did is skeptical. I would argue that Stanton’s contract with the Yankees is far worse.
Panda and Hanley were two where I was right. baaaaad contracts from the minute they were signed. GM Rule of thumb: signing a guy to play out of position is a BAD idea.
yooo don’t talk about my boy prince like that. dude wrecked his neck. was still a good ball player til then
Nope! The worst deal ever was the Meyer’s deal. He also complains about having to put in extra time working on cutoffs. Sheeesh
Who’s Meyers?
You’re missing a key fact. The padres came in second in signing Ohtani. Hosmer was their best bet to fill their 1b void. They were looking to fill seats.
How many extra tickets will they sell due to Hosmer? A thousand tickets, maybe? Is that worth the $100M or so in overpayment? Seriously, for how many people would the presence of Eric Hosmer be the deciding factor in going to watch a Padres game? And for a team with like 6 viable outfielders, it would be nice to have an extra spot to put one of Myers/Reyes/Renfroe.
I’d say given their collective effort in signing multiple free agents, the return for Hosmer is panning out well for the padres. Albeit a sub .500 season, they’ve come a lone way in terms of stadium attendance.
And what empirical evidence do you have that those other free agents wouldn’t have signed if they didn’t sign Hosmer first. If anything, signing Hosmer hurt their chances of signing more free agents cuz they don’t have as much money to pay them.
I think Many Machado and Fernando Tatis have a lot more to do with any attendance boost. A team actually winning games is the best way to boost attendance, and Hosmer hasn’t helped much on that front (as his WAR totals shows us).
The contract has been worse that everybody even thought it would be. It’ll be much worse as Hosmer fades into his 30s.
Not necessarily the Hossmer name is what they were counting on to sell tickets. It was the fact that they wanted to show people they were trying to win that they were hoping would sell tickets.
1st base void? Wil Myers was already there! 1st base was NOT where they needed to spend that money!
Wil Myers has never been known for his glove at any position he has played. Hosmer is an above average 1B defensively which will go a long way in helping save some runs. He may never be worth the $144 million based off his stats but the rest of what the Padres got by signing him is worth every penny
As a Royals fan he looks like a great defensive first basemen with good baseball IQ but metrics have hated his defense for a while
Has anyone ever said the words, “Lets go to the game to watch Hosmer’s leadership”?
Opposing teams fanbase do lol
Lol
“You’re missing a key fact. The padres came in second in signing Ohtani.”
And what proof do you have of this?
Right now it’s a C plus at best, which was where it was ever going to max out. And they aren’t even close to the scary years yet.
He mostly got that contract on his intangibles not a lot guys can say they’ve won a World Series but at the same time it’s not like he’s getting injured or playing terrible, the padres needed to do something to bring fans to that beautiful ball park it’s a smart investment in my opinion and yes they over paid but it’s not the first time a team has done that cough cough Jason heyward
You are equivocating.
I am not a Padres fan at all, but I was impressed with the signing. The contract is a win simply because it showed that the Padres were not just content being the Marlins of the West. After their massive sell off of Upton, Kimbrel, Kemp, etc. less than a season after they arrived, the Padres could have easily been lumped into the same category as Miami. The Hosmer signing showed the Padres were at least going to try to win. Whether or not they can actually do it is another story. But at least they are trying.
So, exactly what benefit does “showing they aren’t the Marlins” provide? It doesn’t attract premier free agents, because they already had to offer Machado the most money to get him. Hosmer doesn’t put more fans in the stands. So what is the actual benefit?
For you and jaded Padre fan, not much if anything. I will assume you dont live in this market cause you wouldnt be asking this if you did. How the Padres were run by the other 4 ownership groups over the last 2 decades, 2 being the same twice (Moorse) said the Pads will invest in the product, be active in free agency, or draft on anything other than signability to name a few.
A clubhouse guy for teams/franchise with a culture dont do it cause they have what this team/franchise doesnt. History, a way, a unified direction with everyone rowing the same way, with the same purpose and the same goal. Quite the contrary. Known for doing it wrong, infighting between the on field product, front office, ownership. There a reason alot of talented Padres personnel and players have gone onto success elsewhere. There is plenty of ex Padres that have gone on the record and off regarding the disfunction.
I get it,you think they still suck and are poorly run. Your not alone. My point is they’re a lot less poorly run than they have been. It’s a low bar but I will take it. I refuse to give up on my hometown team..
You cant do that to our pledges, only we can do that about our pledges
This is how you address Cam’s question?
Here’s how it’s done.
Cam, San Diego wasn’t prepared to win. Preller signed Hosmer to help keep his job and cater to the fanbase. Preller, again, misjudged the talent level of his team in 2018 and again in 2019. He will do it again until he is fired. He will not be fired for being nothing more than mediocre. The Padres have managed to accumulate farm talent and we still do not know if his teams can actually win. The Hosmer signing was a mistake because of the Myers signing. And now they need to deal one of the two and won’t.
There….
Happy birthday, America!
While not worth the contract, definitely better than last year so far.
There are times a small market team needs to overpay in their pursuit of reeling in bigger fish. The Jays did it back in the late 80s and early 90s and it brought them back to back titles. To show players that you are serious in your pursuit of titles you have to prove it. The Padres had never signed a player like Hosmer before and this year they’ve signed Manny. That is 2 steps towards being a contender and 2 steps to showing players that it’s a good place to sign. With the farm system in great shape and a couple more signings of some top notch pitching, we may finally see the Padres going for a title. Have some faith in the process and enjoy it instead of bitching all the time. Before anybody tries to roast me, I’ve been a loyal Padres fan they came into the league.
since*
I’m just here to see those “every top rated farm system has made the playoffs within two years….” people. You know who you are….. (spack and others). This club looking like a playoff team next year? Or if you want to use the royals exception to that rule…. is this looking like a World Series club in another year? That would be a big fat no.
Preller and company have no clue what they’re doing. Logan Allen our of the pen tonight is classic! Quantrill shuffles from rotation, AAA, rotation, pen, back to rotation…. Mejía barely getting playing time with hedges slamming .180…. Urias inconsistent playing time to start the year, and now just sitting in the minors. Myers…. for the love of god…. Myers. Enough said. This team is a long long ways away. And the staple over the years….. the bullpen…. is an absolute disaster. 2020? 2021? Suuuuuuurrreeee
They’re not too far off. Their biggest needs are to add pitching and to get Myers off the books.
While I do not believe that having the top rated farm system is a clear cut indicator of future success I do believe that it is a good sign of an upward trend.I would certainly have studs in the farm system than not. Realistically I can see the Padres a Playoff team next year. It may or may not happen but there is certainly a good chance. The team has clearly improved from last year to this year, per the win totals alone. The fact that they are doing this while having started five rookie starters and two that are in their second year is impressive. Throw in that the middle relief has been a struggle this year, injuries to Castillo and others haven’t helped, and it makes it more hopeful once we get healthy.
In regards to Mejia’s playing time, I feel as though we are seeing him get more and more. He lags behind Hedges significantly from a defense standpoint so for him to play more he has to hit to justify it. Earlier this season he wasn’t hitting his weight. I see nothing wrong with how he has been handled this year. Urias on the other hand is a head scratcher to me. I don’t understand the Kinsler signing and I feel as though that is where it all started. Kinsler is clearly past his prime and certainly regressing. I would have liked to see Urians on the roster getting ABs and being spelled with Garcia (who I feel has outplayed Kinsler). The Myers is contract certainly unfortunate. However, I do not blame the Padres on that. Myers was a former RoY who had just turned in two seasons with 58 HR and a OPS around .800. He was entering he age 26/27 season. There was every reason to believe that he was on an upward swing. Clearly it hasn’t worked out that way though.
If I were to complain about any recent doings with the team it would be two trades.
1. Myers for essentially Trea Turner. Turner, when healthy, is a force offensively. He already has a higher lifetime WAR than Myers with two fewer seasons and plays middle infield.
2. The second was losing Luis Castillo in the botched Colin Rea trade. Dude is 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA. We could certainly use that on the team right now.
Bingo
It amazes me they signed Hosmer the same winter they hired Dave Cameron away from Fangraphs. In other words, they hired an analytics guy who could probably barely resist the temptation to call them idiots. .
Royals fan here. Hoz was great in KC. I miss him. But I’ve watched him since he came up. There’s only one thing that’s holding him back from being the best first baseman around. His swing. He needs to go to the Cody Bellinger school of hitting. He needs to adjust his swing and have more of an uppercut than he has now. Hes really a good hitter but to put up those hr and rbi nu.bers he needs to adjust that swing. He hits down on way to many balls. Right now hes a line drive hitter who occasionally hits one out. His glovework is second to none inspite of what the experts say. Hes not even that bad of a baserunner for a first baseman. I doubt he will ever figure it out because hes not one to listen to advice. Good luck Padres you overpaid
MLB average for L vs L is .249/.318/.401/.719
Didn’t understand SD being the team to pay Hosmer considering the talk about Wil Myers having to be the permanent 1B even in 2017. He signed the extension, and suddenly a year later San Diego signs Hosmer.
The real question is, how many chances is Preller going to get? The last straw should have been the Pomeranz fiasco. A franchise needs a leader, and a leader he is clearly not.
Oh you mean the one where the Red Sox traded the Padres an injured Anderson Espinoza (now recovering from his 2nd Tommy John surgery) for a healthy Drew Pomeranz?
However you want to re-write history, Preller should have been fired.
Your version means he did not do his due diligence.
The truth meant Preller was deceptive. The second time in his career after getting in-trouble in Texas.
Either way, if you are fine with him spending to mediocrity (again), I wish you luck.
How about Brad Hand and Cimber for Mejia that looks another Preller special
I remember at the beginning of their careers when Hosmer and Freeman were always compared and typically the talking heads picked Hosmer. How’d that work out for them?
Go on youtube and look up “Hosmer Saving errors” and youll see why hes a 4x gold glove. If you think its a bad deal. We (as in the padres) get a good clubhouse guy which really does make a difference. We get a guy that hits .280-.300 which is above average and a gold glove. The Royals had a trashy infield besides Hos, watch all the throws they make. Everything you guys say is hindsight. Look at the facts. Its like saying the Goldschmidt deal for the Cards was bad because the guy is hitting .250 right now but the next 4 years of his contract Goldschmidt hits .300 with 30 HRs a year Goldschmidt is getting paid 26 mill a year. cmon guys. And to say Machado is overpaid? we get a top 3rd baseman in the league that hits 30+ hrs with a good batting average.
Yeah, I am curious how many people on here are watching games, daily. I don’t personally have too many complaints about Hosmer this season. Certainly not defensively. Offensively, he has been pretty solid as well. Obviously he has not and will not live up to the dollar value of the contract. Lots of players don’t. The people on here who want to use every post about the Padres to either mock them for spending too much on the 3 big contracts or talk about what an idiot they think Preller is, are exhausting. The Myers trade and extension is rough. I’m sure they would not do it again. Hosmer does not put up the numbers to make the contract seem worthy…I get it. But it is all part of a culture shift. The same people complaining about their spending were complaining about them not spending. I will take this team, its trajectory, farm system, and yes, even its mistakes, over many teams of the past. A few years ago, Ryan Ludwick led the Padres with 11 homeruns. I’ll take the progress.
There is nothing wrong with the Hosmer signing. The Padres got a Gold Glove 1B who averages .280 with 20HR a season and is a great clubhouse guy and World Series winner. Those who expect him to be more than that are wrong in their thinking.
Who owns these numbers?
.290 13 HR 62 RBI
.251 16HR 62 RBI
That is the difference between Hosmer and Harper. I don’t understand peoples’ disdain for Hosmer. Offensively he is performing equal to Harper who supposedly is one of the premier sluggers in baseball. Difference is that Hosmer plays better defense at a more critical position and hasn’t gotten in fights with teammates in the dugout or injured himself throwing a fight either.
As far as Machado being overpaid I think that is laughable. Machado is a GG winning 3B. He continually hits 30+ HR while doing it. And he can slide into SS when needed and play at a high level there too. There is every reason to believe that his best years are ahead of him and that in 2-3 years he could be considered a bargain financially as contracts increase.Nolan Arenado is making $14 M more than Machado this year and yet no one says anything about his contract. You take Arenado away from Coors and he is pedestrian at best:
Home .324 BA .379 OBP .612 SLG
Away .263 AVG .320 OBP .472 SLG
I will say this. Wil Myers was a horrible deal. Straight Trash. Whoever structured that contracts is the stupidest person alive. How do you give a guy 3.5 mill a year for the first 3 years. Then the last 3 years give him 22.5 Mil a year. Straight dookie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cmon Padres! Hire me for your contracts. or Imma slap Andy Green in the face cause he sucks too.
Andy Green special Myers for 82 mil
Wait…I need to stop looking at these comments – you think Andy Green has something to do with Myers’ contract? You know he is the manager right?
101 – since you know so much, I’m sure you will recall that they had a ton of money on the books with other players (Kemp, etc.) and they knew that they would be coming into a window of time where they could spend a lot more – see the payroll now versus prior to 2015…Myers contract worked at the time and he had had a couple of strong seasons when signed. I don’t love it either, and it looks horrible now, but you have this little thing called hindsight that you are employing to make your assessment of how stupid the decision makers are.
Jokers…I need to stop doing this to myself.
Couldn’t agree with you more. You are trying to speak logical to nonsensical comments.
One more thing I will say because I am not bias. Hosmers swing does suck at times. He can only hit pitches middle to up in the zone. If a pitcher just threw low strikes he would ground out every time.
So, if I understand this right, the guy is a career .280 hitter for a decade, yet you…some internet commando could devise a plan in which he “would ground out every time”? You sir are amazing. Why some MLB team hasn’t employed you to find the holes in players swings is dumbfounding.
Machado has no power against lefties 0 homers
“Hosmer”
autocorrect? lol
Are you delusional?
espn.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/31097/manny-machad…
7HR in 56AB. That is one every 8 AB. Do you people even check stats before you post?
What do Padres have to show for $ given to Machado, Hosmer, and Myers 3 games under .500 this year and lost 90 last year
I’m confused why so many people on here are worried about what the Padres paid Hosmer when MLB doesn’t have a salary cap. The money they gave him didn’t stop them from signing Machado the next year.
The real issue is that they moved Myers and didn’t have a real plan for him. They should have traded him before his value tanked.
Thank you.
Why haven’t they won the World Series yet?! It’s July already!!! Wow “padreforlife.” What a weird perspective…. They are 24 wins away from last years total, before the All Star break. It is the young pitching staff and weak bullpen that are to blame for them not being better. This has been a terrific, exciting season compared to any other season in the last 9 years. I would actually say this offense/defense is the most fun to watch since 98′. Machado has been an outstanding 3b/SS!!! and has 20 hr already. We know the contracts of the other two don’t look good. It’s a freaking process!!! If you are really a Padre for Life, you would know that things are getting a lot better.
padreforlife = trollforlife
All I got out of this was a reminder of how hard it is to hit a baseball. I skimmed most of this negative report obviously written by a bitter nerd who absolutely sucks at baseball and/or doesn’t know any pros. I found the paragraph pointing out his WBC+ against lefties to be a good source of comedy. It should be the first thing you say at nerds anonymous if you ever have the guts to go. The last paragraph approached positive, it got back to why I like baseball. The Pads are doing well. By the way, Hos was 2 for 4 yesterday with RBI #61 before the break. Hey dude who wrote this – head on down to your local college and ask to practice with hem a bit. Have fun getting beat down like a complaining wimp should!!
And of course you’re a pro, at both baseball and writing
Sorry I angered you so much. Hitting a baseball is incredibly hard, but if you’re getting paid $144MM to do it, you should probably perform better than Hosmer has.
I have to disagree with you. Hosmer is performing in line with what I think that expectations of him should be. The dude averages .280 with 20HR over the course of his career which now spans 9 years. This year he is actually above his mean production. How is it that a guy signs a contract and suddenyl he is expected to perform vastly greater than he has over the course of his career due to the financials of the contract. Obvious the Padres brass looked at more than the basic offensive numbers here. Hosmer contributes a ton in regards to his defense and his clubhouse presence. Clearly teams value those traits as well. Regardless though, dollar for dollar Hosmer has out performed the following:
Bryce Harper
Giancarlo Stanton
Or how about we just compare him to other 1B? He is outperforming these guys:
Joey Votto .268 8HR 22 RBI $25M
Paul Goldschmidt .254 16HR 37 RBI $14.5 M
Miguel Cabrera .304 5 HR 36 RBI $30 M
The list could go on but the reality is this, the guy has the 6th most RBIs amongst MLB 1B as well as the 5th highest BA, 3rd most innings at the position, 5th most TC, 5th most PO, 5th most Assists, 9th highest range factor, All of these things sum it up to me that Hosmer is far from being a bust.
You forgot to mention how great of a fielder he is (checks every defensive metric in existence)…never mind.
So glad the Royals didn’t throw away money on Hosmer. We have our future first baseman in High A Wilmington.
Strange seeing so many people supporting the Hosmer contract, with some mentioning his glove.
How does a guy under 30 win four gold gloves while having a career defensive WAR of NEGATIVE 9.1 with NEGATIVE 18 defensive runs saved?
This is why I always say the gold glove is a joke. The eye test is the best. Ozzie Smith at SS. Ichiro in RF. Trout in CF. Hernandez at 1B. Bench at C. These are just a few guys i watched that stuck out to me as elite defenders. Arm, range, glove work, footwork, speed etc. I don’t need some unproven subjective formula trying to tell me who is great at defense.
I’m confused…you don’t think the gold glove is based on the eye test? I believe Hosmer looks pretty damn good to the eye. I watch pretty much every inning of every game. I do not discount that analytics are not as keen on him…I just know that he has saved a lot of potential errors on missiles in the dirt from Tatis and Machado. Not a lot of complaints there from me.
That’s because the analytics still needs work. Hosmer is not as bad as the numbers suggest. Terry’s friends are of the pretend kind. Pay no mind.
I use the eye test. I don’t think the voters of the award do all the time. I could give numerous examples of GG winners who suck defensively. Ozuna, Rafael Palmeiro won a GG playing 26 games at 1B one year. Molasses, Rag Arm, Jon Jay was a finalist last year in RF playing only 50 games for Arizona. Span, McCutchen, Mark Ellis etc. It’s based mostly on reputation. Once you get that first one, you tend to get multiples whether you deserve it or not. I know Molina has won 2 or 3 he didn’t deserve.
I think it goes to evaluating numbers besides the ones that you quoted. I would argue that Hosmer saves more of his infielders potential errors than any other first baseman in baseball.His play makes the entire infield better as a whole. Baseball awards, mush like All Star games nominations are often based on favoritism. Hosmer won four GG while at KC, not a major market. I don’t believe that he won a GG due to biasness but probably despite bias existing for other players. There is no way that I believe that Pujols should have 2 GG or how Palmiero won a GG despite being a DH most of the year.
The guy is Giambi reloaded!
I know this is more of an NBA thing than MLB but in this case I think it really applies. It’s almost as if they signed Hosmer to make them seem more legit to other FAs/players and give them a ‘face’ of the franchise. If not for signing him they probably (or maybe I guess is more accurate) wouldn’t have had as much clout/ability to sign Machado this season. Does that mean it was worth it? idk it’s still probably never going to be a great contract. And would they have been able to sign Machado anyway? Possibly – but for a club with such a low profile on the FA market it may have been part of their thinking.
Read above. The Hosmer signing had NOTHING to do with Machado coming to SD. It was all about the money.
As a Royals fan who was as high on Hosmer as anyone while he was in KC, I’m REALLY glad he took the SD deal. That contract would have killed the Royals.
Take him back! *arnie k1 cop voice *