MLB Rumors: Padres 'Deep' in Eric Hosmer Trade Talks; Mets, Cubs Linked

The San Diego Padres are reportedly "deep in trade talks" for first baseman Eric Hosmer with less than a week before the start of the 2022 season.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network added Saturday the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets are among the teams involved in those discussions.

One of the rumored offers includes Hosmer and pitcher Chris Paddack going to the Mets in exchange for outfielder Dominic Smith, per Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post added:

Hosmer was one of the league's most valuable players late in his tenure with the Kansas City Royals. He helped guide the club to a World Series title in 2015, earned an All-Star selection in 2016 and posted a career-high .882 OPS in 2017, his final season in K.C.

The 32-year-old Florida native hasn't lived up to that same standard in San Diego. He's compiled a .738 OPS with 61 home runs in 506 games across four seasons with the Padres since signing an eight-year, $144 million contract.

He ranked 24th out of 26 qualified first basemen in WAR (0.0) last season, per FanGraphs.

While that doesn't represent much bang for the buck, Mets owner Steven Cohen has shown he's willing to spend pretty much an infinite amount of money to turn the club into a contender, and Hosmer would still represent an upgrade to the lineup.

He'd likely take over at first base and shift Pete Alonso to designated hitter, which would mean less playing time for Robinson Cano, who's posted a .578 OPS in 22 spring at-bats.

New York would also benefit from adding Paddack, who owns a 4.21 career ERA, after the team announced ace Jacob deGrom would stop throwing for an estimated four weeks because of a shoulder injury.

Smith, who started his Mets tenure as a first baseman before drawing a majority of his starts in left field over the past two years, could receive playing time at both positions if he lands in San Diego.

Meanwhile, details about the Cubs' offer for Hosmer are unclear, but he'd be in line to take over as their starting first baseman. Frank Schwindel would probably shift into a DH platoon with Rafael Ortega in that scenario.

Given the advanced nature of the trade talks, it'd be a surprise if a deal wasn't finalized in time for Hosmer to start the upcoming campaign with his new team.