Short-Stinted Chicago Cubs Slugger Announces Retirement
The Chicago Cubs were looking for viable options at first base all season in 2023. Rotating a set of players there can be helpful at times, but ideally there is one who can slot in as the everyday starter.
The Cubs thought they found their guy when they handed Eric Hosmer a one-year deal in free agency last year.
Unfortunately, things did not exactly pan out as expected, causing the turnstile at first base to occur.
Hosmer, was once considered a top prospect in baseball coming out of high school in 2008. This pushed the Kansas City Royals into selecting him with their third overall pick that same draft year.
Three professional seasons later, the lefty slugger made his Major League debut and immediately produced, slashing .293/.334/.465 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI on his way to finishing third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
During his tenure with the Royals, he became a franchise staple, earning one All-Star Game selection, four Gold Glove awards and one Silver Slugger award from his position at first base.
Hosmer was a major reason why Kansas City won the World Series in 2015.
When he hit free agency after the 2017 season, he cashed in on an eight-year, $144 million deal from the San Diego Padres.
The slugger had a good five-season tenure there with an OPS+ of 103 and bWAR of 3.7, but he never quite reached the same level he had with the Royals.
This was evident during his stint in Chicago.
Across 34 games, Hosmer slashed .234/.280/.330 with only two homers and 14 RBI. The Cubs ultimately decided to designate him for assignment on May 19, and released him six days later.
Now, the 34-year-old has decided to retire.
In addition to the announcement made on his Instagram page, Hosmer also said he's launching a company called MoonBall Media that will drive authentic storytelling built by baseball.
The slugger talks to John Perrotto of Forbes to give more insight about what exactly his new podcast will cover.
Baseball fans can expect some interesting insights to come from Hosmer and his media company.
While his tenure with the Cubs might not have worked out as anticipated, he's still drawing on his time playing in a big market like Chicago to share his stories with the baseball world.
