Dodgers at MLB winter meetings: Competition for Teoscar Hernández heating up

Coming off his resurgent 2024 season in Los Angeles, outfielder Teoscar Hernández has desired to remain with the Dodgers. Last week, talks between the sides finally picked up as well.

But as of Monday afternoon, Hernández remained unsigned. And in the wake of Soto’s monster contract, he’s now perhaps the most coveted outfielder still left on the market. That means, as other Soto finalists refocus on Hernández this week, the Dodgers could face renewed competition for the two-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger, potentially from fellow big-market clubs such as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

“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.”

If the Dodgers fail to retain Hernández, they’ll have to address the void he’ll leave behind. The team does have an everyday center fielder in Tommy Edman (who isn’t expected to split his time at shortstop as often as he did last year). Conforto should also get the lion’s share of at-bats in one of the corner outfield spots.

After that, however, the Dodgers outfield depth includes only younger names such as Andy Pages, James Outman and maybe even top prospect Dalton Rushing, as well as slumping veteran Chris Taylor. And if they miss on Hernández, both the free agent and trade markets are lacking many obvious potential impact replacements.

“He has earned this ability with a great year to go out and explore free agency,” Gomes said, after reiterating his appreciation for Hernández’s contributions last year. “We’ll continue to look for ways to improve our team and I’m sure have additional conversations there [with his camp].”