MLB Rumors: Eric Hosmer Traded to Red Sox After Rejecting Nationals Move in Soto Deal

San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller is still busy making trades, as he found a home for Eric Hosmer on Tuesday.

Per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Boston Red Sox will acquire the 32-year-old first baseman.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported the Padres will pay for the entirety of Hosmer's remaining contract, which will save the Red Sox close to $44 million.

Per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, Hosmer invoked his no-trade clause to reject a deal that would have sent him to the Washington Nationals as part of the package for the Padres to acquire Juan Soto and Josh Bell.

ESPN's Jeff Passan provided details of the Soto-Bell trade:

Jim Bowden of CBS Sports noted the deal between Washington and San Diego didn't hinge on Hosmer's approval.

After the Padres acquired Adam Frazier from the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, rumblings about Hosmer's future with the organization began to circulate.

Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported at the time that "his name has surfaced in recent trade discussions."

But the Padres held on to Hosmer and traded Frazier to the Seattle Mariners on Nov. 27.

There were a number of reasons for the Padres to trade the four-time Gold Glove Award winner. He has never been a consistent hitter, especially in the power department. He ranked 22nd out of 26 first basemen in slugging percentage (.395) and 23rd in FanGraphs wins above replacement (0.6) in 2021.

In 2022, Hosmer ranks 21st out of 26 first basemen in WAR (0.4) and 24th in slugging percentage (.391).

There was speculation before the season that the Padres and New York Mets were deep in talks about a deal involving Hosmer.

Per SNY's Andy Martino, the Padres were going to send Hosmer, Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan to the Mets for Dominic Smith. San Diego would also send $25-30 million to the Mets to cover a portion of Hosmer's remaining salary.

The deal never materialized, and Martino noted the Mets didn't want to go through with it.

After a fast start, Hosmer is hitting .272/.336/.391 with eight homers and 40 RBI in 90 games.

He was supposed to be a key part of San Diego's rebuild when he signed an eight-year, $144 million contract with the team as a free agent in February 2018. He will make $20 million in 2022 and $13 million annually from 2023 to 2025. The pact also includes an opt-out clause after the 2022 campaign.

The Red Sox seemed to indicate with their trades Monday that they were sellers in the interest of looking to 2023 and beyond. Christian Vazquez and Jake Diekman were traded, and Boston acquired Tommy Pham, Reese McGuire, Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu.

Hosmer almost certainly won't be a long-term option for Boston, but he will get the opportunity to rebuild his value with one of MLB's marquee teams.