San Diego Has Had Enough of Eric Hosmer

When first signed, it felt that he was the first piece of the puzzle, in which he arguably was during that time. However, Hosmer's performance since coming to the Padres has not lived up to expectations.

Before Hosmer came on over, the Padres had Wil Myers over at first base. In his most action during 2016 and 2017 in that position, Myers only had eight errors total combined. Throughout the first four years for Hosmer in San Diego, he has posted 25 total errors. Now of course nobody is going to be perfect, but when the San Diego Padres made one of the biggest splashes by signing Eric Hosmer to a eight-year, $144 million contract, he has not been the same impact player like has was by winning a World Series title with the Royals. With Kansas City, Hosmer won four Gold Glove awards, including three consecutive times from 2013 to 2015. Now, we are lucky if we see Hosmer flash the leather saving runs and showing his worth with that very expensive infield.

Sadly, the issue has just not been defensively for Hosmer, but also with the bat. Over his career, he has been known to hit into many ground balls that resulted in outs and double plays at the times he needed to be clutch. In Hosmer's career, he holds a 54.9% ground ball percentage that is very high for his career. With this season being at 58.1% that is the third highest in the majors. Hosmer is only behind Raimel Tapia (COL) and Tim Anderson (CHW). The launch angle has also not been in Hosmer;s favor his whole career and is yet again very low this season at just 3.1 degrees.

The 31-year old veteran has also already declined to make changes to his swing. Hosmer has always had that leveled swing since his Kansas City Royal days and that has now been a factor on the Padres since he does not elevate the ball with his bat like Fernando Tatis Jr. or Machado and even Cronenworth.

So does A.J. Preller make another outstanding move to bolster the Padres' issues? I have personally heard a lot of mixed reviews about Texas Rangers' RF/1B Joey Gallo who could be dealt. But I believe it could be best moving current 2B Jake Cronenworth to first since he is so versatile and can arguably play anywhere you slot him. Now I do not want Gallo in San Diego due to his frustrating bat that would result in worse outcomes than Hosmer. If we get frustrated with Hosmer and what he brings to the table, just imagine what it would be like to watch Gallo either walk, strikeout or hit a home run. That is not what we want. The Padres have generated runs due to stealing bases, bunting and producing walks thanks to great plate discipline. So why put a big power hitter in Gallo in the lineup?

Gallo is of course a pro and I respect that without a doubt, but he is not as good as the Majors hypes him to be. Being a MLB pro for seven years, he is only a 1x All Star. In addition to that, Gallo has only reached the 100+ hits mark once (103 hits in 2018) and has been nothing more than what the media tells us. As of now, Gallo leads the Majors with the most strikeouts (101) and walks. (64) For that, Gallo is a confusing hitter that would get our hopes up too soon and it would be a wild ride. You can also question on why and if the Rangers would take Hosmer even if San Diego would pay for all or majority of the leftovers. Trading Hosmer would help out San Diego to be considered true contenders but Gallo is not the answer. Besides, what is so wrong about having a change of scenery by putting one of San Diego's favorites in Jake "The Rake" Cronenworth at first?

Cronenworth has now tallied 22 total starts over at first base. With those starts, only one error to Cronenworth's resume. For a player that is so talented, why not slot him at first? I mean we heard rumors that Crone would take some action in left field for crying out loud! Cronenworth has produced more power naturally, he leads the Padres in the hits department and just overall has a better swing with the twig. Cronenworth is the kind of ballplayer that wherever you place him on the field and in the lineup, he will flourish.

Now the question is what would be happening at second base? Would the Padres be satisfied by putting Ha-Seong Kim in the starting role everyday or would they seek for another option to keep Kim off the bench? Two names ring to my mind for San Diego to improve at second if this scenario falls into place. Whit Merrifield, the late bloomer on the Kansas City Royals (how ironic) and Adam Frazier on the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Both are two quietly dominant players that go out on the field and play their heart out. The media does no run the spotlight on either since they do not show that swagger or pop, but that is what makes these players so great. Merrifield always leads up in hits with a good batting average but is never mentioned and same goes to Frazier.

Starting with Merrifield, he would fit right in as the top of the order player that gets hits and generates runs thanks to his stealing mentality. Merriefield has successfully stolen 142 times and had the most (45) in the 2018 season. Merrifield has also accomplished a 206 hit season while batting .302 in 681 AB's. Get him and he will give it his all just like the rest of the group who competes to get better and strive for more unlike Hosmer with his swing and defense.

Adam Frazier brings a less athletic presence as he is not known for stealing or being aggressive on the base paths. Instead, Frazier brings plate discipline that the Padres also succeed with and he would compliment the lineup well with the season he has been having. Frazier has a great BB:K ratio this season as it is 30:38. He has 102 hits and so far has a .861 OPS which is very nice for a second baseman.

Who would San Diego have to give up to receive either one of these players? I am not sure and it would not be simple unless the Padres eat up much of Hosmer's contract but something has to be done by the trade deadline on July 31.

At the end of the day, it is a business and teams learn from poor moves that were made. Credit to Hosmer for making history and bringing "Slam Diego" to life. But the Padres cannot have this kind of player in the middle of the order weighing them down. It is tough that when I at least think of Hosmer on both the Royals and Padres, I see two different people. One being the hero and clutch performer that brought a title to Kansas City, the other botching plays and costing games with his former Gold Glove and low launch angle bat. For the Padres, their offense is 'top heavy' while the rest does not generate the same value so far. A contending team cannot easily show their weaknesses or they are doomed. For that, it is time to find a team that would be willing to take Hosmer for some reason and give back some key pieces for the Padres. Preller has done it before and the moment we doubt him, he will impress all of us Padre fans yet again with another jaw dropper.