Cody Snavely
We are almost two months into the 2024/2025 Major League Baseball offseason, and multiple players are still unsigned as the holidays approach.
One player that is still in the free agent market is Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández.
Hernández, 33, is entering his third stint in free agency. After the 2020 season, the versatile utility player inked a 2-year, $14 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, but in the second year of the deal, he was traded back to Los Angeles during the 2023 regular season. Last winter, Hernández did not sign until late February, re-signing with Los Angeles for a 1-year, $4 million deal.
Not much was known about Hernández’s or the Dodgers’ plans for his free agency until recently when the October hero appeared on an episode of The Shop this past Tuesday. In it, Hernández stated that his “main priority” was to return to Los Angeles.
Main priority for me would probably be coming back. I think this team — the Dodgers are very well positioned to make another run and be the first back-to-back team since the New York Yankees in ’99 and 2000.
While Hernández ultimately wants to return to the Dodgers, he understands that if it is not in the cards for the upcoming 2025 season, he’d like to join a postseason contender due to his ability to perform on the biggest stage.
Hernández didn’t have the best regular season, hitting .229 with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs; he came alive in October, hitting .294 with two home runs and an OPS of .808.
However, even before October, Hernández showed better offensive numbers in the second half, primarily due to the help of some prescription glasses. In that time, the righty hit .287 with thirty-seven hits, six homers, twenty-three RBIs, and twenty runs scored in forty-four games.
While the Dodgers’ main focus is to re-sign Teoscar Hernández, once the team starts to build its bench, a reunion with Kiké Hernández makes all the sense in the world. In the great words of Dodgers insider David Vassegh, Kiké and the Dodgers are better together than apart.
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