Dodgers Notes: Hernandez, Betts, Edman

Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez has come up in trade talks recently, though both manager Dave Roberts and general manager Brandon Gomes shot down the notion of moving the veteran. “That doesn’t feel likely,” Gomes told reporters, including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. “Obviously, you can never say never on those types of things. I know that’s come up [in reports]. But that’s not something we anticipate at all.”

Hernandez is heading into the second season of a three-year, $66MM deal. He’s coming off a down 2025 campaign in which he provided close to league-average results by wRC+. The veteran slashed .247/.284/.454 with 25 home runs as LA’s primary right fielder. Hernandez posted a decent .788 OPS in the postseason.

The 33-year-old Hernandez spent time in center field early in his Toronto tenure, though those days are long gone. He might be better suited as a DH at this point, but that spot is obviously taken in LA. Hernandez has delivered back-to-back brutal seasons in the field in terms of Outs Above Average, posting a -10 in 2024 and a -9 this past year. Roberts seems to disagree with Statcast’s assessment of Hernandez’s defense, calling his play “at least average” in right field, though he indicated a change could be possible. “I do think that with the versatility [of our roster] and how we potentially shape this roster, there’s some options,” Roberts said. “But right now, he’s our right fielder.”

One player who won’t be an option to replace Hernandez in right field is Mookie Betts. Roberts confirmed the versatile Betts will remain at shortstop next season. “He put a lot of time in at shortstop, a lot of bandwidth, and it certainly worked because he was a lockdown shortstop for us,” Roberts told reporters, including Katie Woo of The Athletic. Betts started 148 games at short last season.

Betts is a six-time Gold Glove award winner in the outfield, but he’s moved to the dirt the past two seasons. He split his time between second base and shortstop in 2024, before moving full-time to the latter spot in 2025. Betts earned modest defensive grades when he first moved to the infield, but posted strong numbers last season. Defensive Runs Saved was especially kind to Betts, giving him a +17 mark.

Some of the roster versatility Roberts mentioned might also take a hit after Gomes provided a health update on Tommy Edman. The GM said Edman recently underwent a debridement procedure to address his ankle injury. Gomes added that the infielder/outfielder would likely be limited heading into Spring Training, and the club doesn’t expect the recovery to “affect a meaningful part of the season.” The phrasing of that timeline cast a bit of doubt on Edman’s availability to start the year.

Edman hit the injured list with ankle inflammation in May. He returned after only missing a few weeks of action, but went down again with an ankle sprain in August. Edman made it back for the final few weeks of the regular season. He started every postseason game for LA, primarily playing second base, along with a couple of starts in center field. Edman also missed significant time in 2024 with a wrist injury.

The surgery could potentially help Edman bounce back offensively next season. He posted a career-worst 81 wRC+ over 97 games in 2025. More concerning, he managed just three steals. After three consecutive seasons of at least 25 thefts with St. Louis, Edman has totaled nine steals across his two years in LA.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images