With an excess of corner outfielders on the roster who are performing offensively, is it time for the San Diego Padres to consider benching first baseman Eric Hosmer?
After the first two weeks of the season, several position players for the San Diego Padres are off to a good start. However, Eric Hosmer is not one of those players.
At the time of his signing in 2018, Hosmer was the most notable acquisition in franchise history. He was given the most significant contract in franchise history, eight years and $144 million. He is currently in the second year of that contract and is earning $20 million.
It’s still early, but he has shown a lack of production that gave Padres fans fits last season. So far in 2019, he’s hitting .203/.271/.297. His strikeout rate is high (22.9 percent). His walk percentage is low (8.6 percent). He is hitting the ball on the ground half the time (50 percent groundball rate). His wRC+ is an abysmal 51.
Compare these numbers with four outfielders currently on the 25-man roster: Wil Myers, Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe, and Manuel Margot. When Franchy Cordero returns from the injured list, he can be added to this discussion.
Margot is off to one of the best starts in his young career. He has played the past few games in the leadoff spot and is seizing the opportunity. He also is the best defender in the outfield. Myers is back to full health and is at an expected level of production.
Reyes has shown much more patience at the plate. He’s taking more pitches and is being more selective. His 11.3 percent walk rate is evidence of this. His batting average is still quite low, but BABIP has not been his friend so far (.171).
Renfroe has shown improvement in the outfield. Also, he has a 126 wRC+ and gives manager Andy Green a power option to pencil into the lineup.
The thing here is that these four players should be playing every day. Four outfielders and three outfield positions – the Padres have quite the predicament. Hosmer’s lack of production at first base makes it even worse.
Seeing how these four players are producing and Hosmer isn’t, the question should be asked at some point if things don’t change. Should the Padres bench Eric Hosmer?
Yes, he’s making $20 million and has the second biggest contract on the team. Yes, the team waited out a slow offseason to sign him to that contract. Yes, he was advertised as a player who offers “prestige value” and is the kind of veteran you want for clubhouse chemistry. Seeing how this young clubhouse has come together so quickly, you do have to ask if this would be possible without Hosmer’s leadership.
Hosmer is the biggest professional sports star in San Diego not named Manny Machado or Fernando Tatis, Jr. He was named All-Star Game MVP in 2016, a game that was played at Petco Park. Fans celebrated when he agreed to a contract with the Padres. That fanfare is beginning to fade. The numbers are falling well short of the hype. Also, this production, or lack thereof, does nothing to help the Padres win games. Winning games, after all, is the whole point of playing the sport.
Taking Hosmer out of the lineup, even if only temporarily, makes room for all four of those outfielders to get the playing time they deserve. Myers was the team’s first baseman before Hosmer was signed. Even after all the moving around he has done, he would move back to a position with which he has familiarity.
It’s only mid-April, and there is plenty of time for Hosmer to figure it out. He was given a free pass last season due to having to adjust to a new league. This season, seeing how he has started is leaving little room for optimism.
If this keeps up, Green may have to make a tough decision and keep one of his highest-paid players on the bench. [Reply]
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
I'm going to San Diego in about five weeks. Staying in Gaslamp. Any tips on places to go/see?
Do you drink?
Downtown:
The Whiskey House (Best Happy Hour in San Diego)
Fairweather (somewhat hidden bar overlooking Petco Park)
Rustic Root (rooftop place - food and drinks)
The Nolen (rooftop bar)
Barleymash (lively area. Nice snatch around)
Born & Raised (Little Italy area - about 5 minutes Uber ride from downtown)
Bottle Craft (Little Italy location - nice beer bar about 5 mins from downtown. Cool because the they have a great beer selection and the airplanes fly right overhead.)
Breweries:
Mission Brewery (about 2 minute walk from Petco Park [Reply]
Other deals never had a snowballs chance in hell of working out.
The Hosmer deal is the latter. I never understood the idea that the guy was worth anything more than a 2-3 year deal for maybe $15 million/per. Ol' Boras snookered an owner yet again.
If you made every player in baseball a FA and allowed teams to do conversions to 1b and things of that nature, I don't imagine Hosmer would be one of the top 50 1b taken. Especially if you include the minors and start bringing in guys like Yordan Alvarez in Houston's system.
That contract was bad from the second it was signed, not unlike the Chris Davis or Dexter Fowler deals. Sometimes you see a contract and think 'damn, that's risky'. Other times you see a contract and just say "huh?". For every client that Boras has screwed over, he has a guy like Hosmer that he's made far FAR richer than he ever had any business being. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Some deals just don't work out. It happens.
Other deals never had a snowballs chance in hell of working out.
The Hosmer deal is the latter. I never understood the idea that the guy was worth anything more than a 2-3 year deal for maybe $15 million/per. Ol' Boras snookered an owner yet again.
If you made every player in baseball a FA and allowed teams to do conversions to 1b and things of that nature, I don't imagine Hosmer would be one of the top 50 1b taken. Especially if you include the minors and start bringing in guys like Yordan Alvarez in Houston's system.
That contract was bad from the second it was signed, not unlike the Chris Davis or Dexter Fowler deals. Sometimes you see a contract and think 'damn, that's risky'. Other times you see a contract and just say "huh?". For every client that Boras has screwed over, he has a guy like Hosmer that he's made far FAR richer than he ever had any business being.
I disagree with every bit of that.
Hoz was coming of a 4.1 win season age 28, when he became a FA. He was 4th in the AL in obp (behind guys named Trout, Judge, Altuve). He hit 25 jacks with a swing carrying tons of untapped power potential. He never misses time. He can run well. Teammates and coaches love him.
To suggest that was only worth 2-3 years at 15/per is nothing but revisionist history. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
I disagree with every bit of that.
Hoz was coming of a 4.1 win season age 28, when he became a FA. He was 4th in the AL in obp (behind guys named Trout, Judge, Altuve). He hit 25 jacks with a swing carrying tons of untapped power potential. He never misses time. He can run well. Teammates and coaches love him.
To suggest that was only worth 2-3 years at 15/per is nothing but revisionist history.
Except that I said it at the time. There was nothing in that high-maintenance, low loft swing of his (or his track record) to suggest that his 2017 season was likely to be the norm going forward. If you're projecting you're looking at a 20 HR 1b w/ solid OBP skills and mediocre defense.
So, what, a slightly better version of Justin Bour? Bour got non-tendered and took a 1 year, $2.5 million deal just to find a place to play. The only meaningful distinction between Bour and Hosmer is that Hosmer makes more contact. But Bour hits for a lot more power. Hosmer makes more contact because he has a slappy mess of a swing that avoids Ks in favor of slowly hit groundballs. That's not exactly an ideal trade off.
'Revisionist history' says he's worth a minor league deal with a spring training invite. Giving him 3/$45 would've STILL been overpaying based on what he's provided.
And no, there's no chance he'd have ever had to settle for that because there's always a team or two willing to bite on Boras's voodoo. But that doesn't mean that the contract wasn't doomed to fail from the start - it absolutely was. [Reply]
