Teoscar Hernandez was a sought-after player this off-season, and on Friday night his sweepstakes finally concluded.
The free agent signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who brought the outfielder back into the fold following his major contributions to a World Series title last season.
Several teams, including the Toronto Blue Jays, had been interested in Hernandez so this is a move that will cause a ripple effect throughout the league.
Teoscar Hernandez agrees to a three-year, $66-million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The contract includes a fourth-year club option of $15 million along with $23.5 million in deferred money and a $23-million signing bonus, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The deferrals in Hernandez’s deal continue a trend for the Dodgers, who’ve used the method in contracts for several players, most notably Shohei Ohtani.
The Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox had been linked to Hernandez and will now need to pivot in their search for a power-hitting outfielder. More on that below.
Hernandez joins the list of players who bet on himself and eventually won big. His stock dropped slightly during his 2023 campaign with the Seattle Mariners but the outfielder signed a one-year, $23.5-million pact with the Dodgers last winter and proceeded to fully re-establish his value.
The slugger slashed .272/.339/.501 and blasted a career-high 33 homers in 2024, in addition to a 137 OPS-plus that’s only bested by the 146 mark he produced during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. With that, he reclaimed his status as one of the game’s preeminent power hitters.
Since 2019, only 14 players have hit more than Hernandez’s 158 home runs.
Hernandez was a key contributor during the Dodgers’ World Series run, producing several key hits in October. His affability with teammates has been a consistent trait throughout his nine-year MLB career and that was certainly the case in the Los Angeles clubhouse.
The 2025 campaign will mark Hernandez’s age 32 season and the term of his contract looks to be beneficial to the Dodgers, who can get at least three years of production from Hernandez before he hits his mid-30s.
Retaining Hernandez helps the Dodgers maintain a deadly lineup that also features Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The quartet combined for 21 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, along with 128 homers last season and figure to be just as productive in 2025.
Hernandez played 871.2 innings in left field for the Dodgers and 436.1 in right. The club inked Michael Conforto to a one-year deal earlier this off-season and the left-handed hitter can also play both positions, giving Dodgers manager Dave Roberts increased flexibility.
The Hernandez signing will also reverberate around the league. Firstly, he’s another big free agent now off the board in a 2024 class that’s quickly shrinking. The Blue Jays were said to have pursued Hernandez, a close friend of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who Toronto brass has engaged in extension talks this off-season.
Hernandez would have filled a large hole for the Blue Jays, giving them the power outfield bat that they’ve desperately needed since originally trading him away to the Mariners after the 2022 campaign. The fact that Hernandez commanded a shorter deal than some other free agents also served to make him even more desirable in places such as Toronto and Boston.
The Blue Jays’ only off-season transaction of note was acquiring the defence-first Andres Gimenez in a deal that sent Spencer Horwitz out of town. Offence, particularly power, remains the club’s biggest need and it will be interesting to see how general manager Ross Atkins goes about addressing that before spring training.
MLB Trade Rumours predicted Hernandez would land a three-year, $60-million deal, which is just $6 million below the guarantee he eventually received.
With Hernandez no longer available, Anthony Santander will come into focus. The switch-hitting outfielder possesses a similar profile and could instantly inject a dose of power into any lineup.
Third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso are also available and can be classified as impact talent amidst a free-agent market that’s now devoid of many options.
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