Teoscar Hernández said he hopes to re-sign with Dodgers this winter
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Photo credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Oct 31, 2024, 20:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 31, 2024, 20:01 EDT
Outfielder Teoscar Hernández won a World Series title in his first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and by the sounds of it, he hopes to make another run with the newly crowned champions in 2025.
The 32-year-old slugger told ESPN Deportes — the network’s Spanish-language channel — returning to the Dodgers is a priority during an on-field interview in the aftermath of the club’s World Series celebration on Wednesday, with his comments translated from Spanish to English. He added that the team will also have a say in that decision. But if it were solely his to make, he’d choose to return.
Hernández, a two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger, signed a one-year deal worth $23.5 million in free agency with Los Angeles last off-season. He had spent the previous season with the Seattle Mariners and six with the Toronto Blue Jays before then.
The Blue Jays traded the right-handed-hitting outfielder to the Mariners following the 2022 campaign, receiving right-handed reliever Erik Swanson and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko in return.
Toronto reportedly expressed interest in a potential reunion with Hernández last winter, and many believe the organization could do so for a second straight off-season.
The 2024 Home Run Derby champion enjoyed a remarkable inaugural season in Los Angeles, blasting a career-high 33 home runs while driving in 99 across 154 games. He also hit .272/.339/.501 with a 134 wRC+, 34 per cent above league average — tied for the second-highest of his nine-year major-league career.
Hernández posted three home runs and 12 RBIs this post-season, slashing .250/.352/.417 over 16 contests en route to the Dodgers’ second World Series title in four years — and the franchise’s eighth overall.