Fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t going to like what Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, had to say about Teoscar Hernández.
On Tuesday, from his suite at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas at the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, Friedman told reporters, including Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain, that he wasn’t sure if the fan-favorite outfielder would be returning to Los Angeles.
“It’s hard for me to answer,” Friedman said. “He had a really good year. He put himself in a great position and I know he has talked about wanting to and I know that we have talked about him wanting to and he and his family get to go through the interest and figure out what makes the most sense for them. So while we’re hopeful, at the same time, if he ends up signing somewhere else, we have no choice but to wish him well and on a personal level we’ll be really happy for him and professionally not so much.”
If the Dodgers are unable to bring back Hernández, they’ll need to find a way to fill the gap he leaves.
Tommy Edman is set as the everyday center fielder, with less time likely spent at shortstop than last season after the team’s recent announcement regarding Mookie Betts returning to shortstop for 2025.
Meanwhile, Michael Conforto is expected to handle the bulk of the at-bats in one of the corner outfield positions leaving the other corner up for grabs. Andy Pages, James Outman, top prospect Dalton Rushing, and veteran Chris Taylor could find themselves competing for the spot in camp.
Should Hernández decide to sign elsewhere, there won’t be any hard feelings.
“I’m always going to be a Teo fan,” manager Dave Roberts said on Monday. “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.”
