The Dodgers re-signed their heart and soul as only they could
Teoscar Hernández isn't the best player on the Dodgers. He isn't the most underpaid. He is, however, the rare star who always seems to exude appreciation for his lot in life, an endearing quality to fans in any market. That came to a head at the Dodgers' World Series rally on Nov. 1, when Hernández broke into tears of joy as he thanked fans.
Since he helped the Dodgers win the eighth championship in franchise history in October, Hernández's preference was always to re-sign in Los Angeles. Friday, he and the Dodgers agreed to terms on a three-year, $66 million deal with a fourth-year option.
Outfielder Teoscar Hernández and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in agreement on a three-year, $66 million contract, sources tell ESPN. The deal includes a fourth-year option for $15 million, a little more than $23 million in deferred money and a $23 million signing bonus.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 27, 2024
It's a fair deal for a player who hit 33 home runs with 99 runs batted in and an OPS of .840 in 2024. In July, he made the National League All-Star team and became the first Dodgers player ever to win the Home Run Derby.
The new deal took a couple months, and that's part of the story here. Yes, the Dodgers re-signed a player who felt like the heart and soul of the team. But it really was a matter of business in the end.
The Dodgers first re-signed high-leverage reliever Blake Treinen, whose combination of stuff and command is unique in today's game. They also reached a deal with veteran outfielder Michael Conforto on a one-year, $17 million deal — effectively a younger and better version of Jason Heyward, who gave the Dodgers a 110 OPS+ in a bench/reserve role the last two years.
Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, gave Los Angeles a left-handed starting pitcher to put at the front of a rotation with right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani. By Christmas, most of the Dodgers' offseason priorities had been filled.
Their negotiations with Hernández took time for all of the dispassionate reasons one would expect: at 32, teams were wary of paying for the downside of Hernández's career. Los Angeles hands out deferred salaries like most hand out candy on Halloween, a contract feature that can help both the team and the player if they play their cards right. But Hernández wasn't keen on signing another deferred-money deal.
Part of the story of the Dodgers re-signing Teoscar Hernández is that they weren't close on Dec. 6 because Hernández wasn't keen on a deferred-money deal. The Dodgers threw in a fourth-year option. Now a deal is done. https://t.co/B5iOWNzCNc
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) December 28, 2024
In January, Hernández agreed to defer $8.5 million of his 2024 salary to be paid out annually from 2030-39, That lowered the present-day value of his contract to less than its $23.5 million face value. Hernández wanted his next contract to reflect the multi-year deal he believed he deserved a year ago.
Hernández got it, but only after a protracted period of compromise and public posturing from both parties. It's entirely like the Dodgers to turn the most straightforward reunion in the history of free agency into a drawn-out negotiation over signing bonuses and contract deferrals.
Few will remember those details in a couple months, when the Dodgers report to spring training ready to defend their championship with their entire 2024 lineup basically intact.
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