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The Dodgers have continued their free agent spending spree, agreeing to one-year, $23.5MM take care of outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. Solely $15MM of that wage will likely be paid to Hernandez this 12 months, as the remaining is deferred and will likely be paid out in installments from 2030-39. Hernandez is represented by Republik Sports activities, and the contract will grow to be official when Hernandez passes a bodily.
Studies in regards to the Dodgers’ curiosity in Hernandez surfaced quickly after the free agent market opened back in early November, and L.A. maintained that curiosity all the best way up till as we speak’s settlement. The Dodgers had been identified to be nonetheless be in search of a right-handed bat, and so they’ve now addressed that want in an enormous method with a former All-Star and Silver Slugger who has hit 147 house runs over 3002 plate appearances for the reason that begin of the 2018 season.
After a string of productive years with the Blue Jays, Hernandez was dealt for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko final offseason, and Hernandez’s transfer to Seattle resulted in a downturn in his manufacturing. Whereas he nonetheless went yard 26 occasions, Hernandez batted solely .258/.305/.435 over 678 plate appearances, and his 105 wRC+ was effectively beneath his 133 wRC+ from 2020-22. Since Hernandez’s underlying metrics had been largely the identical as his profession norms, it appears attainable that the most important perpetrator was merely T-Cellular Park. Hernandez hit solely .217/.263/.380 within the Mariners’ house ballpark final season, versus a a lot stronger .295/.344/.486 slash line on the street.
Whereas Dodger Stadium has one thing of a pitcher-friendly repute itself, it stands to cause that the 31-year-old Hernandez would possibly get again on monitor in a brand new atmosphere, and this one-year deal would possibly mirror his want to re-establish himself earlier than committing to a longer-term contract. MLB Commerce Rumors ranked Hernandez twelfth on our checklist of the winter’s top 50 free agents and projected him for a four-year, $80MM deal, underneath the logic that the offseason’s lack of premium bats would nonetheless result in an enormous contract for Hernandez even within the wake of an underwhelming 2023 marketing campaign.
It may be the case that Hernandez was open to a one-year pact particularly to affix the Dodgers, because the outfielder is now becoming a member of arguably baseball’s most loaded lineup. Los Angeles already racked up loads of runs of their 100-win 2023 marketing campaign, and that highly effective assortment of place gamers has now added Shohei Ohtani to the DH spot and Hernandez to a nook outfield function.
Hernandez now will get to affix a contender and probably win a World Collection ring, whereas ideally posting a greater platform 12 months that might enable him to attain an enormous multi-year contract subsequent winter. The Angels and Crimson Sox had been two different groups identified to be within the working for Hernandez’s providers, and reporter Francys Romero and MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (X hyperlinks) every relayed that these groups had curiosity within the outfielder on two-year offers. In Boston’s case, Cotillo wrote that the Sox had been excited about one thing akin to a two-year, $28MM pact.
Hernandez now seems to be the Dodgers’ on a regular basis choice primarily in left area, although he may slide over to proper area when a left-hander is on the mound (thus sending Jason Heyward to the bench). L.A. remains to be maybe just a little unbalanced with left-handed hitters in its first-choice lineup, but Hernandez now joins Mookie Betts and Will Smith as huge righty swingers, plus the Dodgers produce other right-handed bats in Chris Taylor, Manuel Margot, and Miguel Rojas accessible off the bench.
Margot was additionally lately acquired as a part of the Tyler Glasnow commerce with the Rays however is understood extra for his protection than his bat. Taylor can fill in at a number of positions, and his hitting additionally turned a query mark after a down 12 months in 2022, although he did bounce again with a 104 wRC+ over 384 PA final season. Having Taylor as a supersub across the diamond is probably a greater use for his skillset than an everyday spot in left area, even when defensive metrics have been combined at finest about Hernandez’s outfield glovework throughout his profession.
Hernandez has by no means drawn many walks throughout his profession, and his excessive strikeout totals add much more swing-and-miss to a workforce that already noticed Taylor, Josh Outman, Max Muncy, and even Ohtani rank effectively beneath the league common in strikeout charge in 2023. Nonetheless, the relative lack of contact is one thing of a minor flaw in comparison with the large upside supplied by the Dodgers’ general offensive assault.
The deferred cash will decrease the posh tax quantity on Hernandez’s $23.5MM wage, however his signing represents one more huge expenditure for a Los Angeles workforce that has mainly lapped the remainder of the league mixed in offseason spending. Led by Ohtani’s $700MM deal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $325MM contract, the Dodgers have now spent slightly below $1.067 billion on free agents alone this winter, to say nothing of the additional cash taken on when L.A. acquired and then extended Glasnow. As per Roster Resource, the Dodgers’ tax quantity for 2024 now sits at roughly $302.32MM, effectively over the Aggressive Steadiness Tax’s highest penalty threshold of $297MM.
Even with the posh tax invoice persevering with to escalate, there’s little cause to assume L.A. is completed making strikes, as beginning pitching continues to be a necessity even after including Yamamoto and Glasnow. Extra signings clearly can’t be dominated out, or the Dodgers may transfer extra younger expertise in different trades for one more starter. The sky is mainly the restrict for Los Angeles at this level, because the Dodgers have outpaced even their regular high-spending methods (with the numerous deferrals kicking the monetary can down the street to some extent) in constructing a veritable superteam with Ohtani, Betts, Yamamoto, and Freddie Freeman among the many cornerstones.
Reporter Moises Fabian (via X) was first with the information that Hernandez had signed with Los Angeles, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X links) reported particulars in regards to the one-year time period, the wage, and the deferred cash.
Photograph courtesy of USA In the present day Sports activities Photos
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