Eric Hosmer DFA is latest questionable Red Sox roster decision
Red Sox acquire RHP Wyatt Mills from Royals, DFA Eric Hosmer
The Boston Red Sox have designated Eric Hosmer for assignment.
It’s the corresponding move to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Wyatt Mills, the right-handed pitcher sent to Boston from the Kansas City Royals on Friday in exchange for minor-league pitcher Jacob Wallace.
Acquired from the San Diego Padres at the 2022 trade deadline, the veteran first baseman’s time in Boston amounted to 14 games, and from start to finish, his tenure will go down as one of the weirder situations in franchise history.
Did the Sox ever really need Hosmer? Yes and no. In the immediate future, they needed someone to fix the untenable situation at first base; Bobby Dalbec wasn’t cutting it and top prospect Triston Casas’ highly-anticipated debut was behind schedule in Triple-A because he’d missed two months of the Triple-A season with an ankle sprain. He ended up making his debut in September, while Hosmer was on the Injured List from late August until the final series of the season.
Financially, it was a head-scratcher of a trade deadline for the organization. Hosmer only cost the Sox the major-league minimum (and former top prospect Jay Groome), as the Padres agreed to absorb the remainder of the 8-year, $144M deal they gave him in 2018, and they gained two prospects in the deal. But instead of trading soon-to-be free agents JD Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi, which would’ve netted some kind of return and gotten them under the luxury tax threshold, the Sox added to an already bloated payroll. They finished the season at the bottom of the division, with one of the biggest payrolls in the game.
The trade also didn’t make much sense because of how much time was left on Hosmer’s contract; he won’t reach free agency until 2026 and Casas is supposed to be a huge part of the club’s future. Even though the Padres are paying Hosmer’s entire salary, acquiring him triggered a full no-trade clause, leaving the Red Sox with only limited options: keep him, convince him to agree to a trade, or DFA him.
But why cut Hosmer instead of someone like Ryan Brasier, who is mystifyingly untouchable despite years of injury and underwhelming pitching? They passed over Brasier, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Kaleb Ort to DFA’ Jeter Downs on Thursday to make room on the roster for Masataka Yoshida. What do the Sox see in them that no one else sees?
It’s true that the Sox don’t need two left-handed-hitting first basemen, and Hosmer doesn’t have the power to move into the designated hitter role, either, especially not in Boston, where fans have been spoiled by David Ortiz and JD Martinez for most of the last two decades. But Boston ranked 20th in home runs in 2022 before losing Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, and now Hosmer, and Yoshida, who’s spent his entire career in Japan’s Nippon league, is the only hitter they’ve added.
The timing is questionable, too. This decision also comes barely a week after Chaim Bloom expressed concern over Casas’ ability to remain on the field. He’s dealt with ankle and knee injuries since the spring, including a knee ailment that forced him to drop out of Dominican Winter League. The Sox also let teams know that Dalbec is available.
Where will Hosmer go from here? There’s a bit of irony that he was the casualty of a trade with the Royals. He spent the first seven seasons of his career in Kansas City, winning four Gold Gloves and helping them win the World Series in 2015 before signing what was the largest contract in Padres history at the time. He’s 33 years old now, but there’s no doubt some team will take a chance on him. Since the Padres are paying him until 2025, another team can scoop him up for the league minimum.
Barring some stunning trade for a big talent, it looks like Casas will be the starting first baseman on Opening Day 2023.
