The Eric Hosmer signing by the numbers

Eric Hosmer takes batting practice last AugustAuthor’s note: This was written prior to the Cubs signing Trey Mancini to a two-year contract. There will be a separate “by the numbers” for Mancini later this week and I’ll address issues like playing time at 1B/DH for Hosmer, Mancini and Cubs prospect Matt Mervis in that piece.

When I was in school I was notorious for procrastinating on projects that I just really didn’t want to do. If I was even remotely interested in an assignment I’d spend hours on it, go above and beyond, and I was usually rewarded with a pretty good grade — oftentimes spending time on the assignment I loved that should have been allocated to the much easier, yet very…