ICYMI: $144 Million Dollar Man Gets DFA'd

He was once thought to be the next big thing. Drafted as the No. 3 overall pick way back in 2008, 33-year-old veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer has never quite lived up to expectations, certainly not after signing a monster $144M contract with the San Diego Padres back in 2018. 

That albatross of a deal still had three years to run, but the Boston Red Sox, to whom the Pads traded him at the deadline this year, have decided move on from Hosmer, designating him for assignment. 

Per @ChrisCotillo: "the Red Sox worked hard to trade Hosmer in recent weeks, according to industry sources, but found that there was little to no interest around the league"

Feels like he'd want to be to the Dodgers or Giants and suddenly start raking pic.twitter.com/mV6Nc0Y2qx

— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) December 17, 2022

Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that "the Red Sox worked hard to trade Hosmer in recent weeks, according to industry sources, but found that there was little to no interest around the league." He still had $39M left on his contract—which the Padres are completely covering as part of the terms of that deadline deal.

Hosmer now is days away from being outright released, and becoming a free agent where any team can take a shot on him for the league minimum. 

The Red Sox are planning to give Triston Casas the full-time job at first base, and, according to chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, "it’s important to do right by Eric and give him time to find his next opportunity. We knew when we first got him that this day would come at some point, and wanted to make sure we treated him right.”

After a decent start to his career in Kansas City, where he hit .284 over seven years, with a .781 OPS and one All-Star appearance, his numbers in San Diego cratered after the big contract, averaging just 13.8 homers a year, his average dropping to .265 over his five years there, and his OPS down to .737. 

He only got into 14 games with the Red Sox after they acquired him this year, hitting .244 with no homers. 

Photo: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports