Royals' Yost: I didn't hear from Hosmer 'even on my death bed'

Ned Yost might have seen this day coming.

The Kansas City Royals manager lost one of his most important pieces Saturday night when first baseman Eric Hosmer reportedly agreed to join the San Diego Padres on an eight-year contract thought to be worth $144 million. Until word of Hosmer's decision came out, only the Royals and Padres had remained in the sweepstakes to sign him.

But whatever happened in negotiations between Hosmer and the Royals that ultimately led him to San Diego took place without the skipper's voice involved. Yost revealed Sunday that while he reached out to Hosmer multiple times via text message over this offseason, he never heard back from his now-former player.

"I'm not sure (on) whose orders that was," Yost quipped, according to Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. "I didn't hear from him, even when I was on my death bed."

Kansas City had apparently been making a final push for Hosmer before receiving word he was leaving. Indeed, Dodd reported Sunday the team may have been willing to offer him a contract in the $140-million range, albeit one likely to contain back-loaded money - unlike the Padres' offer, that's apparently front-loaded with an opt-out after five years.

It's not clear if either the opt-out or front-loaded deal were the tipping points, but they could well have made the difference for Hosmer this late in the offseason.

While disappointed he couldn't do his part to help sway Hosmer to return and perhaps even finish his career in a Royals uniform, the 63-year-old Yost still managed to take the decision in stride ahead of what might be a long season in Kansas City.

"Did we want him back? Sure we did, 100 percent. We really did," Yost said. "We just felt that his legacy was going to be cemented in Kansas City. He's loved there. But at the end of the day, he chose or got a better offer from San Diego. So, we just move on. Just control what you can control."