Dodgers targeting ex-All-Star outfielder in free agency?
The Los Angeles Dodgers logo on the outside of Dodger Stadium on July 15, 2018. Photo Credit: Larry Brown/Larry Brown Sports
The Los Angeles Dodgers may be trying to reload with [checks notes] another 30-something outfielder.
Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports this week that veteran ex-All-Star Teoscar Hernandez is one name who is on the Dodgers’ radar this offseason. Hernandez is a free agent after spending last season with the Seattle Mariners.
The 31-year-old Hernandez was an All-Star with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021 and is also a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He hit .258 with 26 home runs and 93 RBIs for Seattle in 2023.
Hernandez’s game has some obvious holes — he strikes out a ton and is a below-average defender. The Dodgers are also slightly over-capacity in the outfield already with Chris Taylor, James Outman, Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux (soon to be returning from injury), and others. But many of those guys can also play in the infield, and Jason Heyward, a regular outfielder for the Dodgers last season, is hitting free agency himself.
The righty-hitting Hernandez still has plenty of value as a durable power bat who can steal the occasional base too. He would obviously be an ancillary addition for the Dodgers as they target some real sharks elsewhere in free agency this winter.
