Teoscar Hernández Says He Took Less Money to Sign With Dodgers
01/04/2025 07:30 PM
The Los Angeles Dodgers finally got their fan favorite outfielder back, but it came at the expense of Teoscar Hernández leaving money on the table.
Hernández had spent over half a decade with the Toronto Blue Jays when he was traded to the Seattle Mariners before the 2023 season, his final year of arbitration eligibility. After a down season, he was looking for a multi-year deal and potentially a new home.
Hernández also wanted to find a team where he could not only reinvent himself and once again show the baseball world of his talent, but also play meaningful postseason baseball.
Although his agent Rafa Nieves said on X that the original plan was a three-year deal, Nieves saw that “that deal might not exist” in the current market before the start of the 2024 campaign.
The agent asked the 31-year-old outfielder what his priorities were if he did in fact take a short-term deal, and “he said he wanted to win and play deep into October, so we pivoted and focused on getting the best short term deal on the best team interested.”
Los Angeles certainly checked off those boxes and then some, all while Hernández put up career numbers.
Hernández finished the 2024 campaign with a new career-high in home runs (33) and wins above replacement (4.3). He also won his first career Home Run Derby, while becoming the first Dodger in history to earn the crown. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he played deep into October and won his first World Series trophy.
Although the ultimate goal was accomplished, this season was about so much more than simply adding value to his next contract. Thus, entering this offseason, Hernández wasn’t worried about the money.
"I was going to do everything in my power to come back," Hernández said Friday in his re-introductory press conference. "For me, money wasn't an issue… I could've gotten $5 or $6 more (million) from other teams, but if you put me in a place where I had to decide, I would decide to come back because of the way this organization is. The way this organization treats family and the players, and that for me is more important than anything."
Hernández has made his loyalty very clear and continues to act on his convictions set from the 2023 offseason: To win, and to win in October.
With the Dodgers already making reinforcements to a championship team like bringing in Cy Young winning pitcher Blake Snell, it seems as though another deep October run is more anticipated than ever.
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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