Teoscar Hernández Update: Insider Reveals How Michael Conforto Signing Impacts Dodgers Chances
The Los Angeles Dodgers surprised baseball when they agreed to a one-year, $17 million deal with outfielder Michael Conforto Sunday night.
But, while the rest of the world was anxiously awaiting to see where Juan Soto would end up, the Dodgers most likely already knew they weren’t getting him and moved on to another left-handed hitting corner outfielder in Conforto.
Now that Soto has signed his expensive 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets, the Dodgers can focus their attention on Teoscar Hernández, who is still a free agent.
But does the signing of Conforto impact whether or not the Dodgers sign Hernández? Not necessarily.
More News: Dodgers’ Dave Roberts on Potentially Losing Teoscar Hernandez: ‘It Would Be Tough’
“I don’t think so,” MLB insider Jon Paul Morosi told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain. “Certainly they play a similar position, they are both corner outfielders and we’ll see what that means for Andy Pages and his role but I would say the door is still very open for Teoscar Hernández to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“There’s a need there, we know how well he fits in with that clubhouse. They just won the World Series. I know that Teoscar would love to go back. You could just see throughout October how well he fit with that group and if he were to not return, there’d be a tremendous void there — both in the clubhouse and on the field — to where you wonder what impact his absence would have on a lot of those key hitters in the first half of the Dodgers lineup.”
In the wake of Soto’s signing, Hernández might be the most coveted outfielder available — and the Dodgers could face competition from American League East rivals in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, as Dodgers Nation reported. Even the Toronto Blue Jays have been linked to him.
“I’m always going to be a Teo fan,” Roberts said. “There’s not a whole lot of guys that can start 157, 158 ball games and post and then to be that productive. Then you layer on being in a big market, helping us win a championship. Those players don’t come around very often.”
“But,” Roberts added, “obviously Teo has put himself in a very good position as a free agent and had a very productive year. So he’s got some decisions to make as well. He’s going to kind of suss those out. But it would be hard for me not to see him coming back.”
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
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Losing Teoscar would be a huge loss. You must resign him. Really should have signed him before losing out on Soto!
Your absolutely right. What the heck are they waiting for. It’s almost as if theve never negotiated a contract before. Give him what he wants and sign him. I thought they were trying to repeat. I think they are getting cocky.
Agree with this AND ALL THE OTHER POSTS AS WELL. Not signing Teoscar Hernandez by now is a travesty to Dodger fans. They low ball him with a 21 million qualifying offer (he was getting $25 million after all, some of which he accepted deferment) after 33 homeruns and 99 RBI’s plus being a great addition to the club house and spirit of this team and the fan base and coming up big time and time again.. He bet on hmself and he delivered. You don’t just replace all of that on a whim.
What is Andrew Friedman doing? He was willing to give Juan Soto $600 million but is hesitant to sign Teoscar Hernandez to a 2 or 3 year deal, which is probably going to cost more now than if the Dodgers had negotiated a contract with him right after Teoscar helped win a World Series. For $600 million, the Dodgers could sign him and Corbin Burnes and have money left over. An outfield of Hernandez, Edman, and Conforto is pretty damn good. And a pitching staff of Burnes, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Yomamoto, Sasaki, with Kershaw, Miller, and Gonsolin in the wings is unheard of. Pages, Outman, and Lux could be used as trade bait. The Dodgers are talking about forming a Dynasty? This is it. Make me the GM for one week.
The Dodgers don’t win in 2024 without Teo. Full stop.
Larry O.
I agree totally with Michael. Teo is a perfect fit. He helped the Dodgers in every possible way. When others were in a slump he got key hits and drove in key runs..he is great in the Dodgers club house.