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Royals Eric Hosmer Blows Away MLB Scouts And Talent Evaluators

In today’s column over at ESPN, Buster Olney (an essential read for any baseball fan) tackles the biggest subject in baseball: the ascension of Royals first base prospect Eric Hosmer to the major leagues. Like so many who are adding comments to the call-up, Olney dives into the pros and cons of bringing up Hosmer at this point in the season. But one key aspect of the column is clear: talent is what landed Hosmer in Kansas City.

Olney writes that he wrote three baseball scouts and asked them to give a few thoughts on Hosmer’s arrival and what fans should expect. The responses read like fanboys fawning over an idol. Here’s an example of the first evaluation:

Eric Hosmer is a physical specimen with a smooth, effortless swing that will produce a high average. He possesses a discerning eye to get on base, and he has prodigious power potential offensively, and cat-like quickness patrolling first base defensively.

The trend only continued, as Evaluator No. 2 noted, “He is a stud. Long and athletic. He has a chance to hit .300 and 30 homers, and win a Gold Glove. [He could have] Jason Heyward-impact from last year.”

The final talent scout made a high comparison to the reigning NL MVP Joey Votto, first baseman for the CIncinnati Reds:

He’s a special player and should have an immediate impact. It’s high praise but not false praise — he reminds me of Joey Votto. I think he can hit 30-35 homers with plate discipline and also be one of the better baserunners among first basemen. He will help, but the question I have is, with the lowest payroll in MLB and no starting pitching, why now?

To answer that last question, sometimes you just go with what works. Sometimes a team takes a high draft pick because the player is simply too good not to select. In this case, a player hitting over .400 in AAA like Hosmer needs a challenge, and the major league organization gets a boost in the process.