Padres owner on pursuit of Eric Hosmer: ‘He’s a very impressive individual’

Just four weeks from Tuesday, the Royals will open spring training in Surprise, Ariz.

Will free agent first baseman Eric Hosmer be back with the Royals or headed to a different camp? No one knows for certain as he is one of many free agents yet to agree to a contract.

The Royals reportedly offered a seven-year, $147 million contract to Hosmer, and the other main suitor for Hosmer is the Padres. Their deal is rumored to be for seven years and $140 million.

On Tuesday, Padres executive chairman and co-owner Ron Fowler told a San Diego radio station that the team’s front office had Hosmer on their radar six months ago when it was clear he would be a free agent.

“They like him, they like his makeup, they like his leadership in the clubhouse, and obviously they like him as an athlete,” Fowler said on Mighty 1090 AM. “We met with him, and he’s a very impressive individual. He signed out of high school, but when you talk to him, it’s like he’s a very polished individual. He’s had a lot of experience with the press. He knows what he feels about life. .... He’s really focused on baseball.”

Fowler was asked about the Padres making a seven-year offer to Hosmer’s agent Scott Boras. Fowler said general manager A.J. Preller, assistant general manager Josh Stein and manager Andy Green think it’s not a danger and believe Hosmer will play well through the length the contract.

“They feel like this guy is so focused, he has all of the exercise stuff, all of the elements in place to take care of himself like few players have,” Fowler said. “He would be 28 in the first year (of a contract) and obviously 34 would be the last year is if it’s seven(-year deal). ... I think we were pretty creative in the way we put a contract proposal together.

“We like it. I don’t know if Mr. Boras likes it, but that’s another story.”

Fowler also talked about the slow pace of free-agent signings this offseason and said it was because of the luxury-tax threshold and a big free-agent class coming next year.

You can hear the whole interview here.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Padres owner on pursuit of Eric Hosmer: ‘He’s a very impressive individual’."