No Longer ‘Inevitable’ This Team Signs Rumored Red Sox Target

The New York Mets landing star outfielder Juan Soto resulted in a series of moves by the Los Angeles Dodgers that could bode well for the Boston Red Sox.

The Dodgers signed outfielder Michael Conforto on a one-year, $17 million deal and re-signed their top reliever Blake Treinen to a two-year, $22 million contract.

Did the signing of the left-handed hitter Conforto take the Dodgers out of bringing Teoscar Hernández back? ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez shared some insight on how Los Angeles’ could proceed.

“The Dodgers’ acquisition of Michael Conforto, who agreed to terms on a one-year, $17 million deal on Sunday night, doesn’t take them out of the running for Teoscar Hernández, sources said,” Gonzalez wrote. “But, it could complicate matters. The Dodgers have been in conversations with Hernández’s reps for weeks but have been unable to bridge the gap on a new deal, at least part of the reason they pivoted to more of a sure thing in Conforto.

“In some ways, that signing can be viewed in a vacuum; the Dodgers needed a left-handed-hitting outfielder and could still use an everyday, right-handed bat like Hernández, a clubhouse favorite amid their World Series run. But the Red Sox and Yankees are both expected to be aggressive after Hernández now that they have missed out on Juan Soto. A Hernández/Dodgers reunion that not long ago seemed inevitable is no longer as much of a sure thing.”

The Red Sox remain very much in the mix for Hernández, according to multiple reports from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi and MassLive’s Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam.