Has Teoscar Hernandez priced himself out of Dodgers plans in 2025?

It’s no secret that Teoscar Hernandez has been the key to success for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024. Will his success keep him from returning in 2025?

Hernandez has said he wants to stay with the Dodgers, but what he could do on the open market this offseason could make that a difficult task.

After signing a one-year, $23.5 million contract with the Dodgers ($15 million of which he received this season and $8.5 million he will receive in 10 installments from 2030-39), Hernandez has had a solid year, with a drop of .272/. 379/.501 in 154 regular season games. Those 154 games were the most of any Dodgers player outside of Shohei Ohtani’s 159 games as the team’s designated hitter, proving how durable Hernandez was in a season where injuries were problematic in Los Angeles.

Throw in 99 RBI and a career-high 33 home runs (both numbers second on the Dodgers only to Ohtani), along with an All-Star Game appearance and Home Run Derby title and it’s easy to see why Hernandez probably won’t will only be pursued by the Dodgers, but also several other clubs.

These pursuits are expected to significantly drive up the price tag for Hernandez in 2024 and beyond. His salary increased from $14 million with the Seattle Mariners in 2023 to $23.5 million this year, and the expectation is that Hernandez could get a deal in the neighborhood of three years and $72 million this offseason.

Would the Dodgers be willing to commit $24 million per season to Hernandez? Per Spotrac, they already have more than $176 million on the books through 2025, and that’s before including Clayton Kershaw’s expected return. That would make Hernandez the Dodger with the fourth-highest salary next season (behind Tyler Glasnow, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman).

The Dodgers would have to commit to Hernandez not only in terms of salary, but also in terms of playing time. With Ohtani expected to return to being the team’s designated hitter next season on days he won’t pitch, Hernandez would likely be locked into left field for the duration of his contract. That would keep young players like Andy Pages (who is expected to develop into a corner outfielder) and Dalton Rushing (a forward who moved primarily to left field after his promotion to Triple-A) from making a bigger impact on MLB level. .

Although Hernandez has played a crucial role for the Dodgers this season, he has told reporters that an extension is out of the question.

It will have to wait until the season is over and the offseason begins, where both Hernandez and the Dodgers will have to make tough decisions about their future paths and whether they will get back together.