Eric Hosmer's No Trade Clause Added Interesting Wrinkle To Soto Trade

While the Juan Soto blockbuster is a done deal, with the superstar heading to San Diego, the Pads had to deal with an Eric Hosmer no-trade clause, as he was included in the trade initially.

Hearing #Padres 1B Eric Hosmer is not thrilled about being traded to #Nationals, so it will likely take a chunk of money or maybe an additional year added to his already onerous 8-year, $144-million deal (3 years, $39 million left, through 2025) to get him to sign off on deal.
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) August 2, 2022

The report is that Hosmer was "not thrilled" to be heading to the Nationals, so the Padres had to figure out another way around it.

One scenario under discussion between #Padres and Eric Hosmer's reps:

Hosmer may request that he end up with a team other than the #Nats as part of a 3-team deal. The situation remains fluid. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 2, 2022

As MLB Insider Jon Morosi notes, there are different scenarios under consideration, one of which is sending him to a 3rd team. Another would be to add some extra cash onto the already onerous 3 years, $39M he is still owed on his albatross of a contract.

Any way you look at it, Hosmer has officially rejected the idea of going to Washington.

And with just 8 homers and a .727 OPS this season, the power that Hosmer is wielding wasn't lost on this MLB pundit: