SURPRISE, Ariz. _ Eric Hosmer has reportedly agreed to an eight-year, $144 million contract with the San Diego Padres, ending his chapter with the Royals. At first glance, the guaranteed package from the Padres appears roughly similar to the overall dollar number dangled in Kansas City.
In the final stages of the offseason, the Royals were believed to have been willing to offer a deal in the neighborhood of $140 million. The length of the proposed contract _ in addition to the final numbers _ were unknown on Sunday morning.
Yet at least two factors in the Padres' contract offer may have swung the pendulum in their favor. First, San Diego offered an opt-out after five seasons, allowing Hosmer to potentially become a free agent again at age 33. In addition, they heavily front-loaded the deal, guaranteeing Hosmer a reported $105 million in those first five seasons.
Hosmer will be paid $20 million per season in those years, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. Hosmer will also earn a $5 million signing bonus, a sweetener in the deal that drives up the average annual value during the first part of the contract.
In the final three years of the contract, Hosmer will make $13 million per season, a nice security net if his production declines. Yet he may never reach that part of the deal if he elects to go to free agency again in five years.
It is unclear if the Royals ever put an opt-out clause in their offer. The mechanism, while more and more common in contracts, increases the risk for a team while giving players the freedom to walk away and make more money on another big deal.
The Royals, however, were likely to back-load their contract offer, according to a source familiar with their plan. Any Hosmer deal in Kansas City would have likely included smaller yearly salaries in 2018 and 2019 before a new local television contract kicks in. The club is also on the hook for large salary commitments to Alex Gordon and Ian Kennedy across the next three seasons. As a result, it seems highly unlikely the Royals could have matched $105 million to Hosmer across the first five seasons.
Hosmer has not yet spoken about the factors that led to his decision. Money may not have been the only reason. Both the Royals and Padres are in the midst of rebuilding plans, though San Diego appears to be further along in the process. Still, the Padres' offer is structured in a way to make Hosmer more money in the long term.
Viewed in another lens, Hosmer essentially has signed a five-year, $105 million deal with a $39 million insurance policy for poor play on the back end. If salaries continues to rise, as they generally have, and if Hosmer continues to perform, he could be worth more than three years and $39 million at age 33.
The Royals also coveted long-term stability as they head into a long rebuild. Club officials believed that Hosmer could fit into a rebuild, in part, because he would remain productive _ and a member of the organization _ after what will likely be three seasons of losing and building up the team's farm system. But for now, Hosmer is only guaranteed to be a member of the San Diego Padres for five years.
In the end, the decision may have included other considerations. Royals general manager Dayton Moore was expected to speak to reporters at some point on Sunday. He was in Kansas City on Saturday night.
But here's one important distinction: The offers from the Royals and Padres would have both made Hosmer fabulously wealthy and were perhaps roughly similar in total guaranteed money. But the Royals, it appears, were not willing to match the structure of the Padres' deal.
