Former Blue Jay Teoscar Hernández joins Dodgers on one-year deal
6 months ago
Oh would you look at that, the Dodgers have signed yet another player on a sizable deal.
On Sunday evening, ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the news that the Los Angeles Dodgers are signing former Blue Jay outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a one-year, $23.5 million deal. This is obviously good for baseball.
As you could imagine, it wouldn’t be a Dodger signing without some salary manipulation. According to Passan, $8.5 million of the contract will be deferred from 2030 until 2039, with a large part of that coming after Hernández’s retirement.
After the Blue Jays traded the outfielder for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko, Hernández had a tough year with the Mariners, slashing just .258/.305/.435 with 26 homers in 678 plate appearances for a 105 wRC+. He also struck out 31.1% of the time, his highest mark since the 2019 season.
The poor season ended a stretch of three and a half years of fantastic baseball for Hernández, as from June 5, 2019, until the day he was traded, the outfielder slashed .277/.332/.525 with 96 home runs in 1660 plate appearances for a 131 wRC+. It was a bit surprising that the Mariners didn’t offer Hernández a qualifying offer, considering his track record.
Depending on how the 31-year-old performs in the 2024 season, they’ll be entitled to give Hernández a qualifying offer. If he declines and signs elsewhere, Los Angeles will more than likely be given a fourth-round pick, which is essentially a first-round pick with how well they draft.
Hopefully, this signing gets the market moving in what has been a very slow moving off-season. Similar players that are bat-first like Jorge Soler, J.D. Martinez, and Rhys Hoskins still remain available. Furthermore, the best outfielder and former Dodger Cody Bellinger is still unsigned, but knowing super agent Scott Boras, he may not sign until the end of January.
Still, you’d expect the Jays to pick up at least one more big bat, maybe even two if the market is the right price.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @Brennan_L_D.
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