Phillies' Former Slugger Hoskins Predicted to Join Chicago Cubs

Rhys Hoskins' ACL injury came at the worst possible time for him.

Not only did he miss the entire year before he was set to hit free agency, but he also couldn't compete with his Philadelphia Phillies teammates to try and get back to the World Series with the goal of winning it.

The righty slugger has been an important part of this franchise since he made his debut in 2017.

Hoskins is a prolific power bat, hitting 25 or more home runs every full season he's been with the Phillies and was their everyday first baseman starting in 2019.

However, Philadelphia was forced to look at different options when he went down with his injury and that ultimately culminated in Bryce Harper being moved to first for the foreseeable future.

Coming off ACL surgery and an entire year missed, the market has been pretty quiet thus far for Hoskins, despite the power numbers he's produced throughout his career.

There have been some teams linked to him like the Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, but nothing has culminated in a contract offer.

But with Spring Training coming up soon, the interest in Hoskins has started to heat up.

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports is predicting that the former Phillies slugger will be signed by the Cubs this offseason.

"Since we have Bellinger bolting to Toronto, we're slotting Hoskins into the Cubs lineup as a short-term fit at the cold corner who can provide above-average production at a lower cost than Bellinger," he writes.

That is in line with what has been reported about Chicago's plans this winter.

They would like to bring back Cody Bellinger, but if they aren't able to sign him, they'll then turn their attention to Hoskins to fill the first base and power hitting role.

Barring something unforeseen, it looks like Philadelphia's former fifth round pick will be playing Major League Baseball for another franchise for the first time in his career.