The San Diego Padres have found a new home for Eric Hosmer after the veteran rejected the Washington Nationals.
Hosmer was originally included in the Padres-Nationals trade headlined by Juan Soto. But Hosmer has a limited no-trade clause that includes the Nats, which gave him the power to reject his inclusion in the deal. He decided to do just that, leaving the Padres scrambling to find a new trade destination for Hosmer.
San Diego ended up trading Hosmer to the Boston Red Sox instead.
San Diego was motivated to deal Hosmer because they want to stay under the luxury tax for this season. However, the team reportedly will be paying future money owed to Hosmer in order to move him.
Hosmer signed an 8-year, $144 million deal with the Padres ahead of the 2018 season. He has spent four lackluster seasons with the team. The 32-year-old is owed just over $7 million of his $20 million salary for 2022. He is scheduled to make $13 million per season from 2023-2025.
The Padres are expected to be paying much of the remaining money on Hosmer’s contract for those future years.
