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Hoyer: Hosmer is expected to start the season opener at first base and originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Just hours after Eric Hosmer formally agreed to the terms of a one-year deal with the Cubs, team president Jed Hoyer confirmed that the 33-year-old will start the season as the team’s starting first baseman. bottom.
Hoyer spoke to reporters about the acquisition before the opening ceremony of this weekend’s Cubs tournament, revealing a position many fans were unsure of.
Former NL MVP Cody Bellinger is primarily an outfielder, but has played nearly 2,000 innings as a first baseman in his career, most of them in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Bellinger’s first two years in the MLB. doing.
Additionally, Cubs prospect Matt Marvis made headlines thanks to a huge minor league campaign for 2022. This 24-year-old left-handed slugger of his has hit 36 ​​homers and scored 119 runs in High A, AA and AAA. ball.
The Cubs look like they have a third-place pick, but Hoyer was confident in Hosmer’s ability to contribute in 2023.
“It was an opportunity to bring in a guy who’s had some really good years and had a really good career and a landscape-changing element,” Hoyer said.
Hoyer noted Hosmer’s reputation as a clubhouse leader, reiterating that he had “good years left” in his career.
Hosmer spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Royals, laying the groundwork for back-to-back pennants in 2014 and 2015 and winning the World Series championship later in the season.
The first baseman closed out his tenure in Kansas City with a career-best performance in 2017, playing in all 162 games and hitting 25 homers for a career-best .318 batting average and 133 OPS+.
Hosmer tied his glorious season to a massive eight-year, $144 million contract with the Padres. There he put up near league-average numbers throughout his four-and-a-half-year tenure, barring his pandemic-shortened 2020 season comeback. .
The Padres initially attempted to trade Hosmer to the Nationals in exchange for star outfielder Juan Soto at the 2022 trade deadline, but the first baseman invoked his no-trade clause and demanded the trade be redone. was eventually traded, along with two minor league players, to the Red Sox for cash in exchange for minor leaguer Jay Groom.
The 33-year-old has since played just 14 games for the Red Sox, a brief tenure that included a stint with IL due to hip inflammation.
With both clubs, Hosmer hit eight home runs in 2022 behind .268/.334/.382 batting averages and 108 OPS+.
With Hosmer’s contract with the Padres still in effect, the Cubs will pay the league a minimum of $700,000 in Hosmer’s salary, with the Padres paying the rest.
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