The Boston Red Sox have an agreement to acquire veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer from the San Diego Padres. The Padres will also net left-hander Jay Groome while the Red Sox receive infielder Max Ferguson and outfielder Corey Rosier, the teams announced.
Hosmer was originally set to be headed to the Washington Nationals as part of the blockbuster trade that will send Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego. However, Hosmer invoked his limited no-trade clause in order to block his inclusion in that deal. According to Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox are not one of the teams on Hosmer’s no-trade list.
The 32-year-old Hosmer has batted .272/.336/.391 (112 OPS+) this season with eight home runs in 90 games for the Padres. For his career, the lefty hitter has an OPS+ of 108 across parts of 12 big-league seasons. This season, Boston has struggled to get adequate production from first base, chiefly because of Bobby Dalbec’s difficulties. Overall, Sox first basemen in 2022 have combined to hit .224/.294/.368 with 10 home runs in 104 games. Hosmer figures to provide an upgrade over the status quo, at least against right-handed pitching.
Hosmer is owed the balance of a $21 million salary for 2022, and after that he has three years and $39 million left on the eight-year, $144 million pact he signed with the Padres prior to the 2018 season. While the Padres will clear some salary in the deal, it’s likely they’ll be sending a large sum of cash to Boston as part of the trade.
For Boston, this continues their 2022 deadline trend of not going all in on being buyers or sellers under GM Chaim Bloom. On Monday, the Red Sox picked up veteran outfielder Tommy Pham from the Reds but also parted with primary catcher Christian Vazquez in a trade with the Astros. Boston goes into Tuesday’s slate with a 52-52 record. They’re three games out of the final AL wild-card spot, and at present the SportsLine Projection System gives them a 19 percent chance of making the postseason.
