Kansas City Royals expect Eric Hosmer to seek a big contract
The Kansas City Royals won a World Series with homegrown players at the center, but one key piece may be gone after 2017.
The Kansas City Royals had a disappointing season in 2016, going 81-81 and missing the playoffs after making it to two straight World Series. Most of the key players from those two World Series runs remain in place though, so there’s hope for a rebound back to the top of the American League Central in 2017.
Among the key Royals in line to become free agents next offseason are outfielder Lorenzo Cain, third baseman Mike Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer. Keeping all three, assuming big-money long-term contracts in each case, will be difficult for a small market team like the Royals. But one of that trio may already be taking himself out of Kansas City’s price range.
According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Royals anticipate Hosmer will seek a 10-year deal next winter. Hosmer also suggested any contact negotiations with the Royals will not linger past Opening Day.
"“I don’t know if it’s going to heat up now in spring training,” Hosmer told Rosenthal. “But during the season, I don’t like being bothered with that stuff. If something doesn’t happen here, I don’t see anything during the season really happening.”"
Hosmer seems resigned to testing the free agent market, which there’s nothing wrong with. His agent Scott Boras will virtually assure a contract that takes the Royals out of the bidding, one way or another.
History suggests contracts the length of the one Hosmer may seek are not a wise investment. These contracts have been spoiled by steroid use, (Alex Rodriguez), injuries forcing early retirement (Prince Fielder), natural decline in production (Albert Pujols) and a failure to recognize someone’s value beyond surface numbers (Joey Votto). Hosmer will be 28 years old upon potentially hitting the open market, so the tail end of a 10-year deal stands to bring diminished returns.
Hosmer set career-highs with 25 home runs and 104 RBI last season, but his batting average (.266), on-base percentage (.328) and slugging percentage (.433) all notably dropped off from 2015 (.297/.363/.459 slash-line). Hosmer also struck out a fair amount more in 2016 (132 times compared to 2015 (108 times), despite basically the same amount of at-bats. That points to a change in approach at the plate, sacrificing everything else for power numbers.
Next: MLB 2017: One prediction for each team
If the Royals are not in contention at that point this season, they should be a notable trade deadline seller. Hosmer is on track to be their biggest trade chip in that scenario, if the prospect of losing him for nothing is too much for general manager Dayton Moore to stomach.