With more than $1.45 billon spent over the past two seasons in free agency, the Los Angeles Dodgers are most likely done making sizable moves this offseason.
The Dodgers were extremely active in the lead-up to Spring Training as they pursue a repeat championship, adding the likes of Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, among others. The Dodgers also re-signed Blake Treinen and Teoscar Hernández, while agreeing to a contract extension with Tommy Edman.
The roster was pretty much set in stone as pitchers and catchers are due to report for the start of Spring Training on Monday, with a couple of exceptions in Clayton Kershaw and now Kiké Hernández.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Hernández is re-signing with the Dodgers:
Source: Kiké Hernández in agreement to go back to LAD, pending physical. @kikehndez 1st on it. https://t.co/EQWFeriV8A
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 9, 2025
Despite taking months to materialize, both Kershaw and Hernández have remained on the Dodgers’ radar. It more so had to do with waiting for use of the 60-day injured list in order to open up spots on their 40-man roster.
As long as Hernández was interested, bringing him back on a new contract always made plenty of sense for Dodgers. His regular season numbers in 2024 were not all that impressive, but Hernández still managed to provide average defense at multiple positions in the infield and outfield.
If nothing else, the ability to have him on the roster when the playoffs role around is worth the cost alone, as he demonstrated last season.
Hernández batted .294/.357/.451 with two home runs and six RBI in 14 postseason games in 2024, and he is a career .278/.353/.522 hitter in 86 playoff games. Hernández’s career .874 on-base plus slugging percentage is 25th all-time among players with 150 or more at-bats in the postseason.
Kiké Hernández prioritized Dodgers
Throughout free agency, Hernández made it known his preference was to re-sign with the Dodgers, in large part because of the team’s ability to regularly put him in his favorite position — playing October baseball.
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