The Red Sox received some potentially promising news over the weekend.
Teoscar Hernández reportedly wants to stay with the Dodgers, who he helped win the World Series after earning a 2024 All-Star nod. But according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Hernández and Los Angeles “remain at an impasse” in negotiations and the club has started “exploring a number of intriguing right-handed hitting alternatives.”
Enter Boston, which had interest in adding Hernández last offseason and relaunched its pursuit upon the start of free agency. But a pact wouldn’t be cheap, as Rosenthal reported the veteran slugger is seeking “a three-year deal between $66 million and $72 million.”
That isn’t to say the Red Sox will have to pay that price in order to sign Hernández. If interested terms were ready and willing to meet those terms, the 32-year-old wouldn’t have had a free agency tour that expanded over a month. At this point, Hernández and fellow power-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander seemingly are waiting to see who blinks first.
But if Boston does sign Hernández, there likely wouldn’t be as much risk as there would be with other high-profile deals. The two-time All-Star has outstanding career offensive numbers at Fenway Park and he probably wouldn’t be exposed defensively playing left field in Boston.
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Now, it’s just a matter of the Red Sox determining how much they value Hernández at this stage in his career.
Featured image via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images
