Padres discussing Eric Hosmer salary dump with Mets in exchange for Dom Smith
Credit: AP Photo
The San Diego Padres and New York Mets have discussed a trade involving Eric Hosmer and Chris Paddack for Dom Smith.
Could A.J. Preller actually pull it off?
For over year, discussions have circulated about an Eric Hosmer trade. With his massive contract, MLB teams are scared off at acquiring the former All-Star.
Well, a deal might be getting closer to becoming a reality. According to Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the Mets and Padres have kicked the tires on a deal involving Hosmer and a couple of other players.
“One concept that has been discussed would involve sending Hosmer and right-hander Chris Paddack to New York in exchange for left fielder-first baseman Dominic Smith.”
The timing fits the bill for both teams. Recently, the Padres traded for slugger Luke Voit from the New York Yankees. On Friday, it was announced that Mets sensation Jacob deGrom is expected to miss a chunk of time to start the season.
So, the Mets taking on Chris Paddack would help ease the rotation a little bit — although nobody can replace deGrom. For the Padres, they would get rid of Hosmer’s contract and acquire an outfielder/first base hybrid in Dominic Smith.
The Padres and the Mets have discussed a trade concept involving Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack and Dom Smith, sources tell @TheAthletic. With @Ken_Rosenthal and @ByMcCullough: https://t.co/qkk4InOMxk
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) April 2, 2022
The Mets’ 2013 first-round draft choice hit .244 in 2021 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs and would provide manager Bob Melvin with an upgrade in left field.
After all, the left-field situation is ugly for San Diego, and if the season started now, it would be either Jurickson Profar or Matt Beaty. The Bryan Reynolds rumors picked up this past week, although the Padres might not be willing to meet the asking price from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Hosmer’s potential fit with the Mets is iffy, but being able to land Paddack might be worth it for New York. Even though the right-hander has struggled recently, his 2019 season was sensational, and maybe a change of scenery does him good in the long run.
At this point, nothing is particularly imminent, but the Mets’ loss of deGrom might force their hand to acquire a pitcher, and the Padres have a significant amount of pitching depth.
Matthew Wadleigh, born in Oceanside and currently lives in Fresno. He lives with his wife and 2 dogs and is a sports enthusiast. Retired drummer and member of the Fresno State Marching Band. He has been a Padres fan since childhood and has suffered during the struggles just like everybody else.
Is Hosmer overpaid? Yes. Blame AJ, not they guy who said yes.
is Hosmer a horrible first baseman? No.
Everyone talks about Hosmer as if he is a horrible fielder and hits .120.
AJ is desperate to trade Hosmer and it’s showing. Those Hosmer deals are horrible for the Padres. I hope we remain as we are with Paddack and Weathers starting in AAA. We could have the best AAA pitching staff ever. Let them throw their innings with Patino, Khner (?), and others. We’ll need them soon enough OR we can trade from strength at the Allstar break.
Profar is the newest weight that AJ has hung around the Padres neck. A subpar second baseman that they’ve converted to an even worse outfielder who MIGHT his .230 and pop 10 home runs? Talk about overpaying!
we need an outfielder. A major league outfielder. Dom Smith is an average outfielder at best (if he bounces back). I hope AJ will show patience and let these pitching needy teams come to us and overpay. Otherwise, we’re going to see AJ trading three Honda cars and enough money to buy a new one for a past it’s prime used Nissan because AJ doesn’t like the color of the cars.
There is no reason AJ cannot move Caratini, a starting pitcher (Paddack, Weathers, Manea), and maybe a mid level prospect for a quality outfielder. If he can include Hosmer and 30M, even better. If someone loses their starting first baseman, you might find a needy team come calling for a 1B, C, and SP in a deal.
Hosmer is a horrendous fielder and don’t you dare mention his Gold Gloves. His footwork is atrocious around the bag.
Yes, A.J. screwed up. But Hosmer doesn’t get a pass just because the Padres threw money at him.
I’m not giving him a pass… at all. He’s not as horrible as many make him out to be. He’s not number 30 out of 30 starting first basemen. His metrics are about average. Not what we want but we’re stuck with it. Most every team has a player who is average and plays daily. It makes no sense to me to pay most of his salary and give a couple good prospects or a Paddack and Weathers to see him leave. The Angles walked away from Uptons bad contract. I hope the Padres do that before giving away the players and most of his salary.
I thought 30 million, Paddock, and Hosmer for Dominick Smith was a fair deal for the Padres. Adding Pagan makes it a good deal for the Mets. But it still may be what we have to swallow due to Hosmer’s big contract and declining production to below average first baseman. Maybe Smith becomes an average first baseman and we can use the money to get a quality left fielder. The Reynolds deal appears to be dead as Pittsburgh wants CJ Abrams AND Robert Hassell. No way Preller does that.
The problem was that AJ was still going to pay most of the salary. Too steep a price. Keep those players and just release him if you’re that desperate. The Angels did that with Upton.
Hosmer has to go. If the cost is Pagan, Paddack and $30mm, so be it.
This puzzle has a simple solution:
Abrams at SS (if he’s ready, and it’s possible he is)
Tatis in RF (long term, with his shoulder and poor play at SS, he belongs in the OF)
Myers in LF (his best defensive position)
Beaty at 1B (below average fielder and average or slightly above hitter would be an upgrade over Hosmer)
Voit at DH (keeps him healthier, and he’s a legit middle of the order bat)
Smith backs up 1B/LF (cheap and in arbitration, if he doesn’t hit then this is a 1 year deal)
Hurts to part with 2 live arms, but relievers are fairly fungible, Paddack has been bad since the first year, and it undoes the biggest mistake of the Preller era. Now if he can unload Profar…
Dude…your thoughts are well rounded, and presented well…but, they only confirm, for me, how stupid this deal would be…AJ would be going from overpaying Hos, to overpaying to get rid of him…
How ridiculous can it get…the evil blue are laughing at us…
Yes, ridiculous indeed, on many levels. And yes, they are evil, and they are laughing at, well, Preller, hopefully. Yes, Preller is massively overpaying for his MASSIVE overpay to Hosmer, and the team and fans are suffering for it, and he was rewarded for it.
On another note, Scherzer was scratched today, and so the Mets are down their TWO BEST STARTERS. Normally this would give a potential trading partner great leverage, but, with Preller, he might throw in Musgrove + a top ten prospect.
I know yesterday was April Fool’s day, nevertheless, I still do not buy this. It is too good to be true. Seriously, though, it would be HUGE…H…U…G…E….to get rid of Hosmer. However, despite what some have said, the Padres do NOT have a surplus of pitching/starting pitching.
On the positive side of this hard-to-believe scenario: Addition by subtracting 3 negatives (in my book) of Pagan, Hosmer, and Paddack, which, of course, would also open 2 spots on the 40 man roster (after adding Smith). Smith could also have a bounce-back year (I read he was injured last year, but who knows), and he could be a huge upgrade on defense at first, and he could perhaps play in left. This could also free up some money (under the cap) to sign a quality player (RF; LF; Closer; SP).
On the negative side: Pagan and Paddack likely have/had trade value, and it would be wasted on attaching them to Preller’s Folly. This could have been used to bring in quality (SP; RF/LF), but now it is thrown away. And, 30-40 million is also likely being thrown away. And the starting pitching (and perhaps the bullpen) would be lessened to some degree. Last year the Padres needed anyone to just throw a few innings, Paddack provided some of that, when he was not injured.
Not sure how the money changes the cap situation. Any answers?
The latest update says the Pads would move Hos, Paddock and Pagan, WHILE also eating a big portion of the Homer contract… all for….Dominic Smith….???? C’mon now…that deal is just plain stupid.
I can see getting rid of a bad contract, but, the return on this deal is ridiculous….
For an average player, yes, but this merely reveals just how horrible Hosmer is. According to Bleacher Report: “[Hosmer] ranked 24th out of 26 qualified first basemen in WAR (0.0) last season, per FanGraphs.” and that was getting paid as a top 3 or 4 first basemen. And remember, no one else was pursuing/bidding on Hosmer. I was painfully obvious to every other team that he was average-ish, at best. Yet Preller bid against himself, and even added a few years to the contract. Yikes! Now he has to sacrifice assets just to minimize a fraction of the damage Hosmer does to this team.