Cody Snavely
With Cactus League action, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in full swing in Arizona. However, the phone never stops for Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Freidman.
While many fans, including myself, thought that the Dodgers were done with their roster as we are less than four weeks away from the Opening Day series in Korea, they made one final move to put the icing on the cake for a historic offseason.
Yesterday, the Dodgers re-signed utility position player and fan favorite Kiké Hernández to a 1-year $4 million deal while trading away OF Manuel Margot to the Twins.
How does Hernández impact the roster moving forward?
According to General Manager Brandon Gomes, the Dodgers’ original plan for Manuel Margot was to platoon the righty throughout the outfield against left-handed pitching.
Margot, 29, is a career .281/.341/.420 hitter against left-handed pitching. The Dodgers also raved about Margot’s speed and above-average defense, where he ranked in the 75th percentile in OAA.
However, besides a few mentions of Margot throughout the offseason, many believed that the Dodgers were never inclined to take on Margot in the Tyler Glasnow trade back in December.
Those theories may have been proven true after Margot was shipped to the Minnesota Twins for a slick-fielding prospect in Noah Miller, a former first-round draft pick.
As for Hernández, he is coming off one of the worst seasons in his career, where he ultimately got traded to the Dodgers in a salary dump move at the trade deadline.
Kiké’s time in Boston had plenty of peaks and valleys, and after a horrible start to the 2023 season, which saw him put up a slash line of .222/.279/.320.
However, upon his return to Chavez Ravine, Kiké improved that slash line with an above-average .262 batting average, an OPS of .731, and an OPS+ of 95.
Hernández was also one of the lone bright spots for the Dodgers this past October, as his postseason accolades speak for themselves. In his postseason career, he has a .264 batting average, a .893 OPS, 13 HR, and 29 RBI.
Regarding the potential 26-man roster, Hernández provides more versatility than Margot ever did.
What makes Hernández so valuable is his ability to play all around the diamond, as throughout his career, he has played all but one position, which is catcher.
What will Hernández’s role be?
The end of the 2020 season was a closing of the chapter as many Dodgers left the team in free agency. One player was Hernández, who signed with the Red Sox to get a better opportunity to start.
However, Hernández is at his peak when in a utility role similar to his tenure with LA from 2015 to 2020.
With the Dodgers signings of Teoscar Hernández, the sophomore year of James Outman, who hit both righties and lefties well, and Jason Heyward in right field, where does Kiké fit?
In terms of the everyday outfield, it is almost a lock to say that James Outman will get the everyday role in CF, and Teoscar Hernández will get the everyday role in LF.
Dave Roberts, when asked by the media where Kiké would play, stated he would primarily play against left-handed pitching and pointed to center field, shortstop, and third base as spots where he could fill in.
In my eyes, the Dodgers bench, which used to be a weakness after the 2020 season, is now the best it has been in years.
The combination of Chris Taylor and Kiké brings back memories of the 2017-2020 teams where they were a massive part of that success.
I can rest easy after living through Steven Souza Jr. and Billy McKinney taking Postseason at-bats.
Will Hernández be ready by Opening Day?
Shortly after the Dodgers were booted from the NLDS, Hernández had double hernia surgery.
With Hernández also showing up to camp late this spring, according to Brandon Gomes, Hernández will be ready for the trip to Korea.
The Dodgers will also have a handful of players returning from injury this week, with Shohei Ohtani expected to make his spring debut later today.
Dodgers payroll situation
For the fans that care about the Dodgers payroll situation, take the short answer that the Dodgers do not intend to be penny pinchers.
However, from a CBT standpoint, because the Dodgers are over the highest threshold ($297m) with a 110% tax on anything over, going from $10m for Margot to $4m for Hernández is a $6m payroll difference but $12.6 million in total cost difference.
The Dodgers will be on their way as the leading team in payroll in terms of the CBT, but after spending over one billion dollars this offseason, it is not a thought they care about.
Getting Hernández for 1-year $4 million does seem like a bargain due to the versatility and familiarity that the team has with him.
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