Hosmer is by now established as a well-below average player at a defensive position where you like to have flexibility; he hurts the team each inning he plays. And you'd be stuck with him for 4 years. If you take him off the Padres hands, you might as well just cut him, eating $60M of total salary, You'd better be getting back an absolute stud of a prospect, maybe two, for your $60M. I'm not convinced a team really will let go of a prized top-tier prospect just for money. A couple of second-tier guys, yes.
The salary floor is a factor, and I like the creative thinking, but some of the guys being discussed are pretty extreme.