Cody Snavely
While all eyes will be on the big dawgs in the free agent market, such as Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, and Willy Adames, among countless others, perhaps the biggest free agent for the Los Angeles Dodgers is outfielder Teoscar Hernández.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have already offered Hernández the one-year $21.05 million qualifying offer that the thirty-two-year-old outfielder is almost certain to reject as his camp seeks a multi-year deal that the right coveted last offseason.
As you’ll recall, the Dodgers signed Hernández to a one-year $23.5 million contract with $8.5 million deferred from 2030 to 2039. This brought the contract’s current value to one-year $15 million.
While Hernández had a multi-year offer from the Boston Red Sox, which he seamlessly confirmed during an interview during the season, he chose to bet on himself with a one-year offer, and he is set to reap the benefits after an all-star season, which was capped off by a World Series championship.
Hernández, in his lone year in Dodger Blue, put up career numbers including a .272/.339/.501 slash line .840 OPS, 137 OPS+ while smacking a career-high thirty-three home runs and driving in ninety-nine runs. Hernández also made his second career all-star game, won the 2024 Home Run Derby, and ended the season a champion.
Hernández also played a pivotal role in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series run, hitting .250 with three home runs and twelve runs driven in, including the game-tying double in game five of the World Series against New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.
However, with Hernández making it known throughout the season and the Dodgers World Series parade that he’d like to return, the Dodgers will have some stiff competition for his services for the 2025 season and beyond.
According to the Athletic, Teoscar Hernández is drawing interest from four other teams, including the Dodgers.
While in the report, no team is named explicitly in the rumor, the two good guesses are the Boston Red Sox, who had heavy interest last offseason, and the Baltimore Orioles, who could be looking for a replacement for their own pending free agent, Anthony Santander.
The other two, not including the Dodgers, remain a mystery, but it appears that Hernández’s market is beginning to materialize. The outfielder has until November 19th to accept or deny the Dodgers’ qualifying offer.
However, a recent report from MLB insider Jeff Passan from ESPN states that free agent outfielder Teoscar Hernández is expected to be “one of the first big names off the board” this offseason, with the Dodgers favored to re-sign him after his successful 2024 season.
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