No, Eric Hosmer is not leaving the Royals for the Rangers

For a fan, here’s the cool thing about a baseball player signing a two-year contract: He can’t leave his team after the first season because he feels like it.

As Lionel Hutz wisely noted on “The Simpsons:” But I ask you, what is a contract? Webster’s defines it as “an agreement under the law, which is unbreakable.” Which is unbreakable!”

So that’s what makes a tweet such as this so funny (and I’d encourage you not to click the link):

This being something found on the Internet, it was treated by some as being absolutely true, even though Hosmer is under contract with the Royals for 2016:

OK, everyone can settle down. Take a deep breath. Hosmer did not leave the Royals as some people have noted on Twitter:

In February, Andy McCullough (the Royals beat writer for The Star) wrote about Hosmer receiving a two-year contract from the Royals. He will be paid $8.25 million in 2016 to play for the Royals.

After agreeing to the deal, general manager Dayton Moore told MLB.com what Hosmer meant to the Royals.

“(Hosmer) is a very integral part of our team,” Moore said. “He can impact the team in a lot of ways, whether it’s at the plate or at first base defensively or running the bases. He can hit with power, he can hit the other way — there’s just a lot of talent in his game.

“And he plays with a huge heart. He’s just very important to us.”

So, see, Hosmer is not going anywhere. Heck, he won’t be a free agent until after the 2017 season. So, this was just a hoax, kind of like the fake Andy McCullough twitter account that got started (yeah, that apparently happened).

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 8:13 AM.