Eric Hosmer
BY BEAU WOODCOCK
The San Diego Padres’ signing of Eric Hosmer sent shockwaves through the MLB and locked up the Padres’ long-term future. This is why the signing is the best move made by any team in the offseason. The eight-year, $144 million contract is the biggest in Padres history. It may also turn out to be the biggest signing in Padres history considering it could lead to a new golden age for the team.
The Padres are quickly building a young core of players that can develop and set the organization up for continued success. With Hosmer’s signing, they now have a bona fide star, a leader who has a World Series ring and the talent to lead a group of young players.
Hosmer is a 28-year-old who hit .318 with 25 home runs and 94 RBIs last season for the Kansas City Royals. He’s a productive hitter that gets on base consistently and has power to back it up, plus four Gold Gloves at first base. He has all the intangibles of leadership and clubhouse presence that a young and inexperienced team like San Diego needs.
While the Padres may not be poised for immediate success this year, Hosmer will elevate this team into a more competitive squad who will help build confidence. The Padres are not necessarily an immediate World Series contender, but signings like this around a young core can only lead more free agents wanting to join the team.
Meanwhile, signings of Yu Darvish with the Cubs are merely signs of retooling a starting pitching staff after the decline and departure of Arrieta. The Hosmer signing will help the Padres start to build a new culture of winning that will propel them into the future.
Yu Darvish
BY JACK SIMZYK
This year’s MLB free agency was an interesting one. After a very slow start, in which many teams were holding off on signing any of the major free agents, the Chicago Cubs finally broke through and signed one of the top available pitchers: Yu Darvish.
Darvish was one of the first players to sign with a new team this winter, and he will also make the largest impact of this year’s free agent class.
The Cubs rotation was picked apart after the 2017 season due to the retirement of John Lackey and Jake Arrieta becoming a free agent. With the addition of Darvish, the Cubs’ rotation sets up as Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Darvish, Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood. And don’t forget the versatile Mike Montgomery, who can be a rotation or a bullpen pitcher.
The Cubs will be Darvish’s third team in two seasons. After starting the year going 6-9 with the Texas Rangers, he was flipped to the playoff-bound Dodgers. Darvish pitched well down the stretch for the Dodgers, and looked like the best starter in two playoff series against the D-Backs and the Cubs. In games three and seven of the World Series against Houston, however Darvish lost all control, posting a 21.6 ERA in only 3.1 innings. This prompted many teams to ask themselves if it’s worthwhile it to sign a pitcher that can’t pitch when it matters. But you have to win to get to the games that matter, and the Cubs have faith that Darvish is the man for the job.
While Darvish may have had some issues with tipping pitches in the World Series, the Cubs have plenty of time to figure it out and fix things before October comes around. Darvish has been a great pitcher throughout his career and was the best available on the market. The Cubs were already a good team before Darvish signed, but with this addition, the rest of the NL Central and the entire MLB have been put on notice: the Chicago Cubs are a strong contender.
