Teoscar Hernández Update: Insider Reveals How Michael Conforto Signing Impacts Dodgers Chances
The Los Angeles Dodgers surprised baseball when they agreed to a one-year, $17 million deal with outfielder Michael Conforto Sunday night.
But, while the rest of the world was anxiously awaiting to see where Juan Soto would end up, the Dodgers most likely already knew they weren’t getting him and moved on to another left-handed hitting corner outfielder in Conforto.
Now that Soto has signed his expensive 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets, the Dodgers can focus their attention on Teoscar Hernández, who is still a free agent.
But does the signing of Conforto impact whether or not the Dodgers sign Hernández? Not necessarily.
More News: Dodgers’ Dave Roberts on Potentially Losing Teoscar Hernandez: ‘It Would Be Tough’
“I don’t think so,” MLB insider Jon Paul Morosi told Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain. “Certainly they play a similar position, they are both corner outfielders and we’ll see what that means for Andy Pages and his role but I would say the door is still very open for Teoscar Hernández to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“There’s a need there, we know how well he fits in with that clubhouse. They just won the World Series. I know that Teoscar would love to go back. You could just see throughout October how well he fit with that group and if he were to not return, there’d be a tremendous void there — both in the clubhouse and on the field — to where you wonder what impact his absence would have on a lot of those key hitters in the first half of the Dodgers lineup.”
In the wake of Soto’s signing, Hernández might be the most coveted outfielder available — and the Dodgers could face competition from American League East rivals in the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, as Dodgers Nation reported. Even the Toronto Blue Jays have been linked to him.
“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.”
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