data-mm-id=”_sy8rbjlav”>The Chicago Cubs designated Eric Hosmer for assignment on Friday, five months after the Boston Red Sox released him. That followed the San Diego Padres paying $44 million of his salary in a trade to Boston last year. Hosmer is a former All-Star, who was a revered clubhouse leader on a World Series champion and massively respected around Major League Baseball. In a few short years he's become unplayable. It's been a stunning fall. Hosmer was never a darling of the analytics crowd as a hitter, and rightfully so. He was a heavy groundball guy from the left side and in the world of the shift, that type of approach was poison to stats. His final year with the Kansas City Royals, in 2017, was the best of his career. He hit a career-high 25 home runs and drov…