The Los Angeles Dodgers took home the 2024 World Series trophy and outfielder Teoscar Hernández was a huge reason why. Now, Hernández sits in free agency, open to negotiating a deal with whichever team he would like.
The belief around the league has been he would return to the Dodgers on a three or four-year contract. But free agency and these contract negotiations have been ongoing for weeks and nothing has come of it just yet.
Bleacher Report’s Julia Stumbaugh revealed Hernández may not be heading back to the Dodgers. Stumbaugh cited a report that indicated the Dodgers have some competition courtesy of some of the league’s best teams.
“Ongoing free agency negotiations with outfielder Teoscar Hernández have reportedly led the Los Angeles Dodgers to consider potentially trading for his replacement,” Stumbaugh wrote. “The Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and Cincinnati Reds have also been tied to Hernández by MLB insider Héctor Gómez.”
Seeing these two large markets enter the race is quite an interesting development. Both teams have a reasonable amount of money to spend while they also have a hole to fill in the outfield.
For the Yankees, their outfield is currently Jasson Dominguez, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger. Dominguez sounds like a great idea, but he’s almost completely a hype train right now. Acquiring Hernández would give them a proven outfielder rather than hoping their incredibly talented prospect finds his way in the big leagues.
The Phillies need to add a right-handed hitting outfielder, especially if they’re still considering trading Nick Castellanos. Philadelphia has a lot of money wrapped up in other players, so it may be tough for the Phillies to out bid the Dodgers and Yankees.
Don’t count out the Reds either. Under the new leadership of manager Terry Francona, Cincinnati has already made a few trades this winter. They’re a solid dark horse candidate to overpay and sign the slugger.
More MLB: Dodgers Reportedly Battling With AL East Duo For $71 Million Star Free Agent
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