UPDATE (Jan. 22, 5 p.m. PT): Kiké Hernandez reportedly agreed to a multi-year contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ eight free agents, three have come off the board in recent days. Blake Treinen was re-signed to a two-year contract, whereas Pedro Baez (Houston Astros) and Alex Wood (San Francisco Giants) joined new teams.
While the aforementioned players know where they’ll be playing this season, the likes of Justin Turner and Kiké Hernandez remain unsigned. Many around the league believe Turner will return to the Dodgers when it’s all said and done, but the same can’t be said for Hernandez.
Indications have pointed to Hernandez signing with another team as he seeks an everyday role. He reportedly has drawn interest from the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and New York Mets at various points this winter.
The market for Hernandez has heated up over the past week, with the Red Sox emerging as a potential frontrunner to sign him. According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, Boston has been in recent contact with Hernandez, although it’s unclear if or when a deal will come to fruition:
Source: Red Sox have been in talks with Kiké Hernandez in recent days. Things might be heating up on that front. Unclear if anything is close.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) January 22, 2021
The Red Sox have been relatively quiet this offseason outside of re-signing Martin Perez and adding Matt Andriese to their bullpen. If they successfully bring in Hernandez, he would address a major hole at second base, which has been a revolving door since Dustin Pedroia underwent knee surgery in 2016.
In 48 games last season, Hernandez saw time at six different positions while hitting .230/.270/.410 with eight doubles, five home runs and 20 RBI over 148 plate appearances.
Even while filling a utility role for the bulk of the past six seasons with the Dodgers, Hernandez appeared in at least 100 games in four years, including three of at least 130 games.
Dodgers predicted to sign Turner, Marcus Semien
With Hernandez expected to sign elsewhere, the Dodgers could look to replace him with Marcus Semien. He wouldn’t bring quite the same level of versatility, but could be an answer at second base along with occasionally filling in at shortstop and second base.
One official recently predicted that L.A. will sign both Semien and Turner in free agency.
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