Teo is BACK!!
It finally happened
The wait is finally over!
It took a lot longer than most of us anticipated, but Teoscar Hernandez is back with the Dodgers. The move hasn’t been made official yet, but Teo will be wearing Dodger blue in 2025 and for the foreseeable future.
Hernandez and the Dodgers reuniting seemed like a no-brainer. Teo was very vocal about wanting to return to LA, while the Dodgers’ front office was pretty vocal about it as well. Many people expected the two sides to come to an agreement once the offseason began.
Well, they didn’t.
With the Dodgers’ interest in Juan Soto, it was expected that Teo would sign once Soto was off the board. Well, he didn’t.
Soto signed at the beginning of December, while the Dodgers and Hernandez spent weeks without coming together on a deal. It was looking like a reunion wasn’t a guarantee at all and there was a real chance he might end up elsewhere.
Well, both sides finally came to an agreement on Friday, just says before the calendar flipped to 2025.
According to multiple reports, the contract is a three-year deal worth $66 million. The deal also includes a fourth-year club option for 2028. Per The Athletic, Hernandez received a $23 million signing bonus within the deal, which also includes about $23 million in deferred money.
The full details of the contract haven’t been released yet, but this is a pretty solid deal for the Dodgers. The AAV won’t be too bad, especially with the signing bonus and deferrals.
I’m not personally a fan of giving him the third year, which is what I’m sure delayed this process. I wrote about it last week, but Teo isn’t a player I was too keen on extending for a number of years. He was fantastic last season and was a great signing, but committing a number of years to him worries me a bit.
Last year was the best season of Teo’s career, but he still only provided a fWAR of 3.5. That ranked him 49th in baseball among hitters. While still solid, that’s not necessarily worth committing $66 million to. It also doesn’t help that he was one of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball. I’m sure he’s going to continue to decline out there.
However, if adding the third year was what it took to bring him back, I’m okay with that. In addition to being a valuable bat, his value truly came in the locker room with his teammates. He was loved by every player in that clubhouse. He was a big reason LA won the World Series last year. You needed to do whatever you could to bring him back. If that means having a bad contract on the books in 2027, so be it.
When his signing becomes official, the Dodgers’ 40-man roster will be full. If they want to make another move, they’ll have to release a player or make a trade.