Ex-Royals GM Reveals He Declined Eric Hosmer Trade For Astros Future Hall Of Famer

The Kansas City Royals won a World Series in 2015, and Eric Hosmer was a huge part of that championship. In many ways, that makes him an irreplaceable player in franchise history.

Hosmer played in Kansas City from 2011 to 2019 and racked up four Gold Gloves, an All-Star appearance, and a Silver Slugger Award. He's not headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he might very well be a Royals Hall of Famer someday.

What if, though, Hosmer had been traded early in his career for someone who actually will have a bust in Cooperstown?

That very well could have happened, according to former Royals general manager Dayton Moore.

During an appearance on Hosmer's "Diggin Deep Podcast," Moore revealed that he was offered a trade of Hosmer for Houston Astros second baseman (now left fielder) Jose Altuve back in 2013. Here was the exchange between Hosmer and Moore:

Moore: “When you think about a trade, we were in Houston in ‘13 and I got a call from Jeff Luhnow. I was sitting at the Starbucks coffee, and he said, ‘I got a deal for you.’ I said, ‘OK.’ He said, ‘I’ll trade you Altuve for Eric Hosmer.’ That’s one.”

Hosmer: “Is that real?

Moore’: “Yeah, it’s real.”

Hosmer (laughing): “You’re an idiot!”

Moore: “I said, ‘Nope. Nope.’ I didn’t like trading major league players.”

It's wild to imagine what those Royals teams could have been with Altuve. No disrespect intended to Hosmer, who had a 122 OPS+ during the World Series year, but Altuve is on another level.

Not only was Altuve an All-Star every year from 2014 to 2018, which fit right in with the Royals' timeline, but he also did it as far back as 2012 and as recently as last year. He has 52.2 career wins above replacement, whereas Hosmer has 19.1.

But with that said, there's no guarantee the Royals would have won more championships with Altuve. And one never knows how different the 2015 postseason could have been without Hosmer.

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