The latest on the Hosmer market
This browser does not support the video element.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Free-agent first baseman Eric Hosmer has been linked to the Padres this week, but his agent, Scott Boras, would not comment directly on those rumors as he addressed reporters on a variety of topics at the Winter Meetings.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore has said he is still holding out hope that Kansas City could possibly re-sign Hosmer, even though the team is in rebuilding mode.
The Padres also are in rebuilding mode. But Boras said Hosmer would be a fit for any team, contender or not.
This browser does not support the video element.
"When you have players that are young free agents and leaders and have that prestige value that have done everything, really, as a player, and you can do it at a young age, the demand is great," Boras said. "Everybody looks at this from, 'I can use him if I'm a now team, I can use him if I'm a team a year from now, or I can use him if I'm a team that is building something years from now.' His glove fits all teams."
• Hot Stove Tracker
As he did at the General Managers Meetings last month, Boras also continues to sell Hosmer to potential buyers on his "prestige value," or "PV."
"We know that with players from clubs, everywhere you talk, every meeting you have, they know of the skill level of the player. But when the player has prestige value, it brings tremendous value to his [Wins Above Replacement]," Boras said. "So when we talk about WAR, we put the PV to it. There are minus players that have minus PV. And there are players that have Major League standard prestige value, and players that have a well-above-average or elite prestige value.
"And certainly, when you're a champion at 25; you've won major playoff games; you get key hits when your club is down, 7-3, in the postseason; they end up winning those games; you make elite mental moves on every level of the sport … you are there to console, to speak for your organization when they have a tragic event -- both for the players' family [and] the fan base for which he's playing for -- and you also have the result -- the result is that proven prestige value, is when you have a ring on your finger. And you set the tone."