Baseball’s biggest stars are getting paid early and the Phillies could see one of their own join that group.
As the Phillies prepare for opening day there has been a slew of new contracts signed by baseball’s biggest stars. Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Blake Snell, and Eloy Jimenez each signed deals in the last week, while Aaron Nola and Nolan Arrenado inked their deals earlier in the offseason.
It’s a growing trend around baseball for clubs to lock-in their young stars and for players to secure life-changing money without the hassle of free agency.
The next player who might be in line for a new deal could be Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who is entering his second full big league season.
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Hoskins became the fastest player in baseball history to hit his first 11 home runs and became the fastest player in Phillies history to hit 30 home runs. Through 203 games he’s hit 52 home runs and projects to hit even more sandwiched between Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto in the lineup.
Aside from the tremendous power Hoskins has displayed, his leadership qualities have shined early in his career.
Hoskins is certainly deserving of a new contract after making $552,500 in 2018 and $575,000 in 2019, according to Spotrac. Philadelphia won’t have to offer Hoskins a new deal until after the 2020 season when he becomes arbitration eligible, at which point contract negotiations could pick up.
While Hoskins fits the bill as a young player worthy of a new deal, his agent Scott Boras is not known for taking the early money. Boras wants to play things out in free agency and sell his client’s services to the highest bidder.
However, Boras works for Hoskins, and if the young slugger says he wants his deal done, it’s Boras’ job to get it done.
I don’t expect a new deal for Hoskins leading into opening day, but next offseason there could be more smoke as he sits a year closer to arbitration eligibility.