Teoscar Hernández is one of the top bats available in free agency, but he has been waiting on Juan Soto to sign as multiple teams contend for his services.
Soto is reportedly deciding between the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. Whichever teams miss out on Soto figure to turn their attention to Hernández.
It has been widely assumed Hernández would ultimately re-sign with the Dodgers, but he has also drawn interest from numerous American League East teams, including the Yankees and Red Sox.
Both of those clubs remain in on Hernández, along with the Dodgers, and his market should begin to fully heat up once Soto signs, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com:
Red Sox remain in on Teoscar Hernandez but face stiff competition from Dodgers and Yankees, per source. That market is expected to heat up once Soto signs, not pre-empt it like Adames and O’Neill did.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) December 8, 2024
Hernández has made it well known he’d like to return to the Dodgers, but baseball is a business, so he needs to consider other options open as well.
The Dodgers extended a qualifying offer to Hernández, which allowed him to sign a one-year, $21.05 deal for 2025. However, he rejected the deal, instead choosing to test free agency.
Hernández bet on himself by signing a one-year contract with the Dodgers last offseason and now is in line to receive a much bigger deal this time around.
The 32-year-old appeared in 154 games during the regular season, batting .272/.339/.501 with 32 doubles, two triples, 33 home runs, 99 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He led National League outfielders in home runs, slugging percentage and RBI during a storybook season
Teoscar Hernández progress in Dodgers contract talks?
There was previously a report the Dodgers were putting some of the final details together on a new contract with Hernández, but that has not been made official.
The Dodgers could be waiting until the Soto sweepstakes are over until officially agreeing with Hernández.
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