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The Padres finished last season with both their spirits and record well below .500. So it would only make sense for them to sign an exciting and energizing player to shock the franchise back to life this season, correct? It looks like they’re attempting just that. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Padres have been in discussion with power hitting free agent Eric Hosmer.
The 28-year old is coming off of an award winning final year with Kansas City, locking down a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. That’s a ridiculous amount of elements. Hoz slashed .318/.385/.498 in 2017, hitting 25 home runs and 94 RBIs.
But let’s not forget who Hosmer’s agent is, the unsinkable Scott Boras, who will probably be trying to swing a deal in the same neighborhood as the $200M one he’s asking for J.D. Martinez. The Padres don’t have the checkbook to cut that contract with. San Diego is already bucking down for a serious payroll skyrocket in 2019, right about when their farm system will be ripe for picking.
Wil Myers is already San Diego’s first baseman, under contract through 2022 via his six-year, $84M contract with a team option for 2023. In a long-shot scenario barring that the Padres win the ensuing bidding war for Hosmer, the team could try Myers out in the gapping shortstop vacancy that they can’t seem to fill. Stranger things have happened in baseball. But for now, the Padres dreams of Hosmer will probably end right there: as dreams.