Hosmer: Baseball sending 'red flags' with flawed offseason, treatment of veterans
Eric Hosmer may have struck gold in the Golden State, but that isn't keeping him from criticizing teams across baseball for a trend he sees as a contributing factor to veteran free agents' inability to land a new deal this offseason.
In a story Monday by USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Padres' new $144 Million Man said that while he is very happy with his offseason, he sees a lot of "red flags" with the slow pace to the hot stove league.
"(Commissioner Rob) Manfred says the integrity of the game is first and foremost, that's what we want to protect," Hosmer said. "But the way the process went down this year, something is wrong with it.
"I don't think all of the teams are trying to be competitive or doing everything they can to protect the integrity of the game. If that was the case, why are guys like Carlos Gonzalez and (former Royals teammate) Mike Moustakas still on the market? That raises a lot of red flags. When you've got guys that are proven at this level, and have done it for many years at this level that are still on the market looking for jobs, that just tells you something isn't right about it."
You can add 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrietta to that list of unsigned veteran free agents. The Cubs, Arietta's club the last four-plus seasons, passed on re-signing him in favor of giving Yu Darvish a six-year, $126 million contract in February.
Hosmer points to the growing trend of teams emphasizing younger -- and cheaper -- talent in place of the high price of experience. Not only is it hurting teams on the field, Hosmer contends, but also in the clubhouse.
"That's why it's so hard to grasp that Moose (Moustakas) and some of these guys don't have jobs," Hosmer said. "These guys bring that professionalism on a day-to-day basis. Nothing against young prospects, but it takes guys like this to get it done, and understand how everything works up here.
"Now, it just seems like that a lot of that has disappeared."
Hosmer, 28, signed on with San Diego for eight years in February. The seven-year veteran is one of baseball's most durable players, having missed only eight games in the last three seasons combined and playing in all 162 last season.
He is also considered the leader of a core that took the Kansas City Royals from perennial bottom dwellers to contenders, culminating in back-to-back AL pennants in 2014-15 and a World Series championship in '15.
Hosmer is also a four-time Gold Glove first baseman and was the MVP of the 2016 All-Star Game -- played at Petco Park, the Padres' home field.
--Field Level Media
