The Dodgers have already retained one clubhouse favorite this offseason, re-signing infielder Miguel Rojas to a one-year deal. Utilityman Kiké Hernández could be next on the list. Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported the two sides are interested in a reunion. Hernández is currently recovering from elbow surgery on his non-throwing arm.
Hernández has spent nine of his 12 big-league seasons with the Dodgers. He re-upped with the team on a one-year, $6.5MM deal this past offseason. Hernández has filled a versatile role across multiple stints in LA and has three World Series rings with the club (2020, 2024, 2025).
The 34-year-old is coming off one of his worst offensive seasons, though the elbow issue could’ve played a factor. Hernández hit just .203 across 93 games, while missing most of July and August with the injury. The veteran started every playoff game for the Dodgers, managing a .250 batting average, albeit with an elevated strikeout rate. Hernández accounted for LA’s only run in Game 5 of the World Series when he homered off of Trey Yesavage. He was also in left field for Andy Pages’ season-saving catch in Game 7.
Hernández’s ability to handle several defensive positions is likely the main factor in a return to LA. The defending champs don’t have many major holes, but the roster has some soft spots that could be patched by Hernández. The Dodgers currently have Tommy Edman penciled in at center field, though he struggled with injuries and poor performance last season. Some combination of Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland will likely handle second base, but neither has much MLB experience. There’s room for Hernández to carve out a part-time gig again, even if it’s just as a platoon bat spelling Kim and Max Muncy.
RosterResource has LA’s payroll at $337MM for next season. While that’s a massive number, it’s a significant dropoff from last season’s mark, which neared $400MM. The potential commitment to Hernández would likely be similar to the pact he got last offseason. The Dodgers also have luxury tax fees to consider, but Hernández’s deal won’t make much of a dent.
In other news, the sky is blue, and grass is green
The sky is Dodger blue*
I heard that in Vince Scullys voice in my head. Thank you for the smile.
I miss him every season. What a legend.
His voice is baseball …. simply the best!
Grass can have hints of orange. Sometimes purple
Sometimes brown when people are negligent.
Also started the dp that ended Game 6….
Also yelled at Dean to put his hands up when the ball got lodged in the wall.
Potty mouth will be back for clutch post-season hitting and comic-relief blowout pitching.
Emily Post here
Only two people have ever hit 3 home runs in one playoff game and got at least one strike out in their career. Kiké and Shohei
I think he should pitch left handed next season. Extra versatility and all that.
All roads lead to Rome.
Jim Rome lol
It’s nice seeing the Dodgers treat players like people, instead of commodities like my team does.
They don’t need him but you have to run it back. 2027 is when they move into the next era incorporating the prospects
Rojas provides depth at 2B and elsewhere on the infield. If Hernandez comes back he will probably be used more in the outfield.
@Blue-Skies Just a thought experiment: if the Dodgers at the Winter Meetings trade for Skubal, sign Kyle Tucker, and sign Diaz to a four year contract to close…would you be totally on board with all that and be just as exuberant as usual for the 2026 season? Or would you be like “well that’s pretty aggressive, obtaining the top free agent, top trade candidate, top closer on the market…kind of buying all the best players, maybe the competition could be too one sided im our favor here, embarrassment of riches….I should probably not support this team …etc etc etc” (don’t mean to put words in your mouth or anything but you should get the gist.)
I would not be fine with that. Not because of the Dodgers, but rather (even as a non-Tigers fan) I would want the Tigers to compete by keeping Skubal.
An interesting take nonetheless. Let me edit Doyers for Blue Jays and I’ll gladly hop on board 😀
I’m not one of those fans who tells their hometown team to not spend money on making the team better. But these moves just aren’t in the cards. I can’t see them splurging on even one player, let alone, three.
They put Ryan Ward on the 40-man, they have Estuery Ruiz.
Ward has put up some good numbers, Ruiz too. Tucker makes sense in a Dodgers sort of way. Skubal too.
Dodgers trade for Skubal.
Skubal
Yamamoto
Ohtani
Snell
Glasnow
That rotation makes the Padres cringe.
I would not be ok with that at all. For the Dodgers. You’d be jeopardizing/ruining the future for the now and doing so would be overkill and probably not guarantee you a title much more than just a few smart moves they need to make – trade for LH Outfielder who can play center or right and shore up the bullpen.
I dont pay any attention to the Dodger’s, Freddie Freeman, Mookie, Ohtani, Max Muncy, Will Smith, great team, one of the teams I have no real interest in. I root against them and will no matter how they approach FA in ’26.
Skubal would be a big addition. The three-peat is a big deal. Only the Yankees and the A’s have done it. Skubal is a big addition, probably moves them up a 100 to 150 basis points as favorites to win in ’26.
I think they have to make that trade if the Tigers are dealing.
It seems you might have already disqualified your own opinion, but in addition to the above starters, add Sheehan and Sasaki, and a number of other candidates to fill out the 6-man rotation they will probably use most of the time. Skubal makes any rotation better, but he moves the needle the least on this one. Agree with Echopark that they have two real needs, and bulking up the rotation isn’t one of them.
That’s a fair conclusion, It’s Sunday, football games are on, and the Dodgers are uninteresting.
The only point I attempted to make was that the Dodgers would likely forgo promoting players from their farm who have earned a shot at playing time in order to pursue a FA who may be a more proven commodity, often at the expense of their entire farm system. I do have interest in both Ward and Ruiz and thats mostly why I posted.
Trading for Skubal, who supplants Yamamoto and Ohtani as the Dodger’s ace, moves Snell to the 4, that is something else. Snell is an ace.
Skubal would have a dramatic effect on the Dodger’s odds of winning the WS in ’26, even with as good of a rotation as the Dodgers have in place, adding Skubal is like Shaq dunking on Shawn Bradley! Skubal has an impact, it would be a profound trade. The three-peat story is a big story. Adding Skubal plays that story up some too. The Dodgers really become the anti-hero with Skubal aboard and they have a worthy challenge to live up to.
To begin, the Tigers’ rotation is doubtful even with Skubal, and it’s arguable that without him, they don’t make the postseason in 2025. To be competitive without him next year, they’d have to get back a couple of solid MLB-ready starters — which the Dodgers can offer. Still, I don’t see it happening. Detroit is probably better off shopping him in July. But I sure can imagine the Dodgers hate going into overdrive if they did trade for him.
Nobody will ever convince me that he isn’t the best player on LA. I know they have the MVPs and they have great stats, but whenever you needed to get that third out or a DP to get out of the inning, Hernandez always gets a hit to put them ahead or tie. As a Padre fan he is the one I dread the most coming to bat in a close game.
He’s very clutch in the post season worth every penny. Horrible in the regular season but great when it counts. I can’t imagine him leaving unless some team over pays and he leaves because he’s chasing the most money now.
Two things. I think his time in Boston was good for him in terms of getting paid and play elsewhere.
He has said he has a hard time focusing on the regular season, possibly from ADHD, in his own words. He’s really able to lock in down the stretch and even moreso in the playoffs.
Plus, the guy is a true clubhouse vibe all by himself. When they were struggling in 2024, he is the one who spoke up and came up with their internal team motto. “We don’t give a Duck”.
It’s the reason you’ll notice they kinda pushed him to say it in the when they won the series. He looked unsure about saying it, and they goaded him so it said it. Was hilarious watching that in real time.
Shucky Ducky Quack Quack. 😉
hard to quantify the value of a guy like Kike. it just works and he belongs for a whole lot of reasons.
Payroll is not as important (fans don’t write checks) as lux tax that is at 307,227 (sportrac).
Like never left the building.
Ups 307,227,661
I’m waiting on this one with bated breath.
They will get it done!
They waited til the last minute last year.
It won’t be until after the Rule 5 draft for certain so they can manage the 40 man.
That seems how they get all these deals, they do not over pay for players like he Mets and A’s. 😉
Aren’t you just a breath of fresh air.
So Carter, who’s your daddy? Since you seem to have a fetish. Or is it Diddy?
And please don’t show me on the doll. I don’t want to know about your trauma.
Sign him and put him on the 60 day DL, wont take a roster spot till June
The 60 day injured list isn’t available until spring training.
They are waiting for the rule 5 draft so they can keep as many players on the 40 man as possible until then.
I doubt they’ll pick anyone up via the rule 5 draft, but they need to protect their depth until it’s past Dec 10th.
They sign him first day of spring so they can IL him. Not before. Hes out after surgery, no one else will steal him away. Everyone sees the writing on the wall
If Kike were on the free agent signing contest he would be the only one every single one of us got right. No way he signs anywhere but back with Dodgers
CN
The kind of immature person I have no interest in ever interacting with
Muted
Seems like a terrible idea.
Declining bat, declining defense, an injury and replacement-level projection.
None of that matters to Dodger fans. They think he’s a future Hall of Famer…
@Ex MLB peanut vendor
Dodger fans aren’t the sharpest tool in the toolbox…
But we understand winning the regular season isn’t the goal. Kike is a winning player and brings many intangibles to the team as well a postseason winning plays.
I suppose you’d want to “upgrade” from Max Muncy as well? Another winning player.
@Another Dodgers Fan
What is a ‘winning player’? Sounds like you live in a fantasy world.
I know. I actually had that conversation once with a Dodger Fan. I pointed out that Hernandez is at best an average to below average player, but he didn’t want to hear my arguments. “He’s clutch, he’s a future Hall of Famer.” They think every former player from Garvey to Sandy Vance is going in the Hall of Fame.
What a thoroughly idiotic argument. Nobody expects Hernandez to go to the HoF. He is a super-utility player with the ability to play almost any position on the field and do it well. This is the reason why he’s been a major leaguer for 12 years so far. That he finds another gear in the postseason is also fully documented.
Oh, and the fans love him.
Apparently you didn’t watch the world series where they explained his unbelievable postseason stats.
Hall of Fame ballplayers were geeking out about his postseason heroics and stats.
He’s not going into the Hall of Fame by any means. But if they had a postseason only Hall of Fame he would be in it.
And if you think it’s just a Dodgers fan thing, go check out his postseason with Boston in 2021.
Old York
A winning player is a player that helps your team win. In the Dodgers case, it’s a player who helps the team win in the postseason.
Do you not think Kike Hernandez is a winning postseason player?
Let’s not overstate, shall we?
The guy has played in 5 world series, the very pinnacle event in baseball .
His slash line in those 5 series is: .202/.244/.310
For those that insist he shows up when it REALLY matters, I beg to differ.
He does offer the team some defensive flexibility. But with teams these days typically using up half the available roster spots with arms, positional player roster spots are very dear, and I don’t see the sense in clogging up one of those regular season spots with a break-glass-in-case-of-playoff type of player.
They call it “playoff Kike” for a reason. Why not show his playoff stats?
Without him the Dodgers likely don’t win the series.
That’s called winning player.
I love your line about clogging up *regular season spots*. So cute.
Because it was too obvious and easy? Over ten years and 103 (!) postseason games, his batting line is:
.272/.339/.486/.826
York – The injury is why he declined this year. Last year was his best since 2021, so no declining trend.
@Fever Pitch Guy
His bats been in decline. I don’t see why the Dodgers need to keep him on the 40-man roster but they probably will for sentimental reasons.
As long as he remains playoff Kike Dodgers fans are ok with that.
There will come a time where he isn’t effective in that time anymore and they’ll address it. It happened with Justin Turner, and it’ll eventually happen with Kike. But not this year.
Not sure how he fits in LA
As stands
C: Smith
IF: Freeman, Edman, Betts, Muncy
OF: Teo, Pages
SH: Shohei Ohtani
BN: C-Rushing, IF-Rojas, OF-Call
There’s one empty bench spot, plus another OF
Kiké will not be a starting OF most likely, so the Dodgers will acquire an OF and Kiké takes the last bench spot. Easy peasey.
However, the Dodgers also have Kim and Freeland, one of their top prospects. Maybe those guys both start in the minors. Or, maybe one (Freeland) starts at 2B and Edman is in CF. Maybe they trade Call.
They figured it out last year with almost the same players. I’m certain they can make it work again.
Mostly my keeping Kim and Freeland in the minors until injuries forced them up.
If they think they deserve a roster spot this year, it’s going to be hard to have enough room
That’s how it’s been for the Dodgers best prospects for a number of years. That’s the price they pay for being part of a team with the Dodgers expectations and roster.
It’s the other side of the prospect dilemma. You can be stuck on a bad or cheap team for years and years. Or you can be stuck in the Dodgers farm system and be blocked for years.
Just sign him as a high paid special instructor to protect 40 man spot. Then in August, sign him to a free agent contract for rest of season getting him on roster prior to post season deadline.
Also, defer salary until 2050.
The question is: Can they win without him?
The answer is: YES
But the Dodgers and their fans have always been fanatic about sentimentality…..such as: I want Puig back (ridiculous), I want Belli back, I miss Outman, and on and on and on.
So, to that end, he’ll be back.
none of those other guys you mentioned are ever coming back
Bellinger is the only one that might have a chance. But he’s going to get paid for a long contract by an East Coast team.
Pages won the competition over Outman, and was moved, as there wasn’t a path for him with the team moving forward.
Cody’s looking for the decent size multi year he’s been after the last few years. don’t see the Dodgers laying that out for him. at least i hope not. lot of love for Belli but those days are gone forever.
No, I don’t see it happening. The timeline doesn’t quite fit.
Love Belli, but I’m happy he’s going to make his money elsewhere. I feel the same about Seager.