Eric Hosmer has decided to sign with the Padres with an eight-year, $144M deal. The Padres don’t necessarily need a first baseman, but they could use his above league average bat in the lineup.
The 28-year-old Hosmer is coming off a career season, at least from a fantasy perspective, with a .318 average, 25 HR, 98 runs, and 94 RBI. According to FanGraphs’ auction calculator, he was the 25th-highest producing position player last season. There is a perception that Hosmer is inconsistent from season-to-season. This really isn’t true aside from his batting average, which has bounced around in sync with his BABIP. His ISO has been up the past three seasons. His R+RBI over the past three years is 191, 184, and 192.
The biggest concern with Hosmer is his extreme groundball rate, which is the league’s 2nd highest rate (Dee Gordon is No. 1) over the past two seasons. He has a possible breakout in him if he decides to elevate the ball some more.
As for the move to San Diego, Hosmer’s overall value will take a small hit. While the Royals offense wasn’t great last season (4.3 R/G), the Padres are projected for only 4.1 R/G with him in the lineup. As for the change in home ballparks, Hosmer could see a small bump in home runs while his other extra-base hits will drop. Basically an overall even move.
As for the Padres, no one of significance is going to lose playing time. Wil Myers will move to the outfield with Manual Margot and Hunter Renfroe. Owners who were expecting production from Jose Pirela, Franchy Cordero, Matt Szczur, Alex Dickerson, or Travis Janowski to carry their fantasy team are … out of luck. Sorry.
Previous Hot Stove Analysis
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Twins Grab Their Closer, Sign Addison Reed
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