Securing a Star: Dodgers Predicted to Lock Up $66 Million All-Star, Solidifying LA’s…
There’s only one Christmas present at the top of most Los Angeles Dodgers fans’ wish lists these days.
The Dodgers have done almost everything they could have been asked to do this offseason. They added a new ace in Blake Snell. They locked down the bullpen by bringing back Blake Treinen. They even introduced a wild card to the outfield in veteran lefty Michael Conforto.
However, what Dodgers fans really pine for is a reunion with left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who made the All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger in his first and only year in LA. Without Hernández, it will be a blue, blue Christmas indeed.
Fortunately, Hernández seems to want to be a Dodger even more than the Dodgers want him. But with stiff competition expected from a big chunk of the American League East, there’s certainly no guarantee the Dodgers get him back.
On Wednesday, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report predicted that the Dodgers would succeed in their pursuit of Hernández, despite possible threats from the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s fun to picture Hernández in a star-slugger pairing with either Rafael Devers in Boston or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in Toronto, but he isn’t looking to leave Los Angeles,” Buckley said.
“Given the Dodgers’ track record with spending, it’s hard to imagine this contract amount would scare them off of bringing back a key piece of their championship team. Prediction: Hernández re-signs with the Dodgers.”
With a career-high 33 home runs, 99 RBI, and an .840 OPS, Hernández was one of the best righty power bats in the league last season. The Dodgers don’t have a ton of right-handed thump returning to their lineup, especially with Will Smith ending the year mired in a slump, so the urgency should be there to bring Hernández back.
Hernández was also recently projected for a three-year, $66 million contract by Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller. It’s essentially three times the original contract the Dodgers gave the 32-year-old last winter, but he proved this year that he’s worth it.
