After rejecting the idea of the San Diego Padres trading him to the Washington Nationals that would land the former Juan Soto, first baseman Eric Hosmer had his MLB trade deadline route redirected by the Padres to the Boston Red Sox. Chaim Bloom, Red Sox's general manager, believes that having Hosmer will turn out to be a fantastic asset for the team.

Via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com:

Bloom: “We have struggled to find stability at 1B this year. We think Eric will provide that. I think he'll be helpful between the lines and in the clubhouse.”

As mentioned by Bloom, the Red Sox have been having a hard time at the plate concerning their first basemen. In fact, Boston is just 26th in the big leagues at the moment with just a .224 batting average from their first basemen. Creating runs off the performance of their 1Bs has been a struggle for the most part of this season for the Red Sox, who are also second-worst in the entire MLB in both 1B wOBA (.277) and 1B wRC+ (75).

With Hosmer, the Red Sox can expect better production at the plate from the position. Before his trade to Boston, Hosmer, a former World Series champion with the Kansas City Royals, was slashing .272/.336/.39 for the Padres while also brandishing a .317 wOBA and 107 wRC+. Although his walk rate has gone up a bit from last season (from 8.5% to 8.9%), Hosmer has lower his strikeout rate (from 17.5% to 14.9%).

The Red Sox are hoping that the addition of Hosmer would spark the team into becoming a bigger threat for a wild-card spot in the American League. The New York Yankees are nearly a lock to win the AL East division, so the Red Sox will likely only make the 2022 MLB postseason as a wild-card team, a spot which they are currently three games back of attaining.