*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
There's more power joining the Los Angeles menace. The Los Angeles Dodgers and OF Teoscar Hernandez have agreed to a one year, $23.5 million contract, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Dodgers have confirmed the addition.
Hernandez's contract contains plenty of incentives. If he wins a Silver Slugger award, he'll make an extra $1 million. If he finishes between 11th and 15th in voting for MVP, he'll get $500,000. If he finishes between 6th and 10th in MVP voting, he'll earn $2 million, and he'll get $3 million if he finishes in the top 5 of MVP voting. $8.5 million of his salary is deferred and will be paid between 2030 and 2039.
Before signing Hernandez, the Dodgers said they were looking for a righty bat who can hold his own against righty pitching while being able to hit lefties well. Hernandez certainly is that thanks to his .887 career OPS against southpaws. He can play either left or right field defensively.
Last season, Hernandez suited up for the Seattle Mariners following a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays. He ended the year with a .258/.305/.435 slash line with a 106 OPS+, hitting 29 doubles and 26 home runs to go with 93 RBI's in 160 games.
The calling card of Hernandez's game is his power. In each of the last 4 full seasons, Hernandez has hit at least 25 home runs. That power gave him Silver Slugger awards in both 2020 and 2021 as well as down ballot MVP votes.
Hernandez has played for the Blue Jays, Mariners, and Houston Astros in 8 major league seasons since debuting in 2016 with the Astros. He has a .261/.316/.486 slash line and 118 OPS+ to his name in his career, blasting 159 home runs with 473 RBI's and 161 doubles in 811 games. He has 3 hits and one walk in 17 plate appearances in the playoffs over 4 games.
While his power is impressive, Hernandez has been very prone to swings and misses at the plate. Last season, he recorded a career worst 35.2 percent chase rate and also had a career low 5.6 walk rate compared to a 31.1 percent strikeout rate. His 211 strikeouts were near the top among qualified hitters.
The Dodgers continue their offseason of adding with this move. Hernandez joins Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Manuel Margot as the big ticket signings, with MVP winners Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman already on the roster.
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