The Dodgers have spent so much money in recent MLB offseasons—this past winter in particular—that it is easy to forget that they, too, are subject to luxury taxes and restrictions on the salary cap and roster size. Ultimately, they can’t keep everyone all the time. And thus, once this season passes, the team is expected to lose righthanded slugger Teoscar Hernandez, who signed to a one-year, $23.5 million contract in January.
The Dodgers picked up Hernandez after he was not able to sign a long-term contract, and L.A. might not want to commit to him going forward. But it’s likely that some team will—and at Bleacher Report, they’re predicting that team will be the up-and-coming Washington Nationals, and that they’ll offer Hernandez a four-year, $80 million contract to do so.
Hernandez was an All-Star this season, and is batting .260 with a .327 on-base percentage and a .474 slugging percentage. He has 22 home runs and 62 RBIs this year, second on the team behind Shohei Ohtani.
Teoscar Hernandez Has Come Through as a Righty Power Bat
But the Dodgers will likely examine other options in the outfield this winter, especially if Hernandez gets a long-term offer from the Nationals or another team looking for a righthanded power hitter.
Wrote Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report: “Hernández will have to pull out of the funk that has seen him crank only five homers for the Dodgers dating back to June 12, though. If he does, the contract that he was projected for last winter prior to signing for one year and $23.5 million should be in play.
“The same teams that make sense for (Red Sox hitter Tyler) O’Neill also make sense for Hernández, but I’m going to default to the maximum fun pick with the Nationals. It’s about time Washington spent again, and signing Hernández would be an ideal boost for an offense that ranks last in MLB in homers.”
It is likely that Hernandez won’t be in a “funk” for long, and it should be pointed out that while his home runs have been down, he is batting .301 with an .848 OPS in his last 24 games.
He remains a top-notch slugger, one who had a slash line of .317/.349/.628 with 27 home runs in 387 plate appearances against lefties from 2021-23. Those numbers are .290/.338/.617 this season in 107 at-bats.
Dodgers Are a ‘Comfortable’ Fit
Now, it is not a foregone conclusion, of course, that Hernandez will leave the Dodgers after the season. He has clearly fit in well with the lineup, settling in recently as the cleanup man, but the Dodgers could look to get more of their younger players into the mix in 2025.
If Hernandez has his way, though, he will still with the Dodgers going forward, rather than jumping to what would be his fourth team in four years—the Blue Jays, Mariners, Dodgers and, perhaps, someone new in 2025.
