"Getting death threats from San Diego fans" - Eric Hosmer holds Padres responsible for Juan Soto trade saga in 2022
Former World Series champion Eric Hosmer faced criticism for allegedly delaying the San Diego Padres' acquisition of Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals. Hosmer had a no-trade clause in his contract, which he invoked when the Padres attempted to trade him to Washington.
Hosmer provided his version of the story on Tuesday's episode of the Casa De Klub podcast.
"So basically, the trade was always going to happen, and Washington wanted me to go over there. If I said no, then it would be Luke [Voit]. What was kind of messed up in the whole situation was, obviously, San Diego wanted to keep Luke for depth for their team, or whatever they wanted him to keep him for," Hosmer said [Timestamp 39:40].
The 2016 All-Star claimed the San Diego front office leaked news to the media that he was holding up the Juan Soto trade, which led to backlash from the fans.
"So I go like four or five hours until the deadline, and I'm getting, you know, death threats and all these kinds of things from San Diego fans. Like, 'Dude, you’re holding up our chance to get Soto. Get the hell out of here,'" Eric Hosmer added [Timestamp 40:34].
The four-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman knew he was on the tail end of his career, and had informed the Padres front office he was open to a team capable of winning the World Series. However, the Nationals, who were rebuilding, were not such a team, causing him to exercise his no-trade clause.
Nonetheless, the Padres eventually acquired Soto, sending Hosmer to the Boston Red Sox.
Eric Hosmer explains why he didn't go public about Padres' front office's questionable practice
After Eric Hosmer signed with the Padres from the Kansas City Royals, he knew he couldn't cope with how the San Diego front office went on with their business.
The former All-Star cited a story of Manuel Margot, who was subjected to criticism from the front office immediately after they lost to the Dodgers, courtesy of an error.
Hosmer disagreed with how that panned out, claiming criticizing a player immediately after a game was wrong. As such, he knew the Padres would trade him, and the team had already made it known to him.
Nonetheless, when the front office allegedly threw shade at him during the Juan Soto trade saga, Hosmer refrained from responding in kind. He revealed why, to Corey Kluber and Tyler Casagrande, the Casa De Klub podcast hosts.
"I really had no voice, and I wanted to tell the fans what was going on, but in baseball that was just kind of frowned upon, so I just kind of had to wear it," Eric Hosmer said [Timestamp 40:50].
Three years after the blockbuster trade, Juan Soto, now a free agent, is expected to get paid a huge chunk of money, possibly breaking or coming near Shohei Ohtani's record-breaking deal (10-year, $700 million).
Eric Hosmer is a co-host of the "Diggin' Deep Podcast," where he interviews personalities, mostly associated with sports, with Peter Moylan and Justin Su'a.