Kansas City missed out on bringing back Mike Yastrzemski, but the club might have its sights set on a bigger prize. Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic report the Royals are interested in Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez. The veteran’s name has come up in trade talks recently, though general manager Brandon Gomes has said a deal “doesn’t seem likely.”
Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Royals were looking to add multiple outfielders. President of baseball operations J.J. Picollo has already said he’d be willing to deal a pitcher for an outfielder. Kansas City had been interested in a reunion with trade deadline acquisition Yastrzemski, but he ultimately landed a two-year deal with Atlanta.
Finding an impact bat in the outfield has been an ongoing pursuit for the organization. Kansas City was linked to Jarren Duran ahead of the trade deadline. The club came up short in signing Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar last offseason. While the Royals aren’t expected to be shopping in the Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger tier this winter, they’ve been connected to Harrison Bader and Austin Hays. Jake Meyers and Brendan Donovan have been mentioned as trade targets.
Hernandez provided league-average production as LA’s primary right fielder last season. He failed to follow up on his 33-homer, 12-steal debut campaign with the team, slipping to a 102 wRC+ over 134 games. Hernandez hit .257 with one homer in the postseason for the eventual champions. The 33-year-old is entering the second season of a three-year, $66MM deal.
The main drawback with Hernandez in recent years has been his defense. He’s totaled -19 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons with the Dodgers. Statcast grades Hernandez’s arm as close to average, but his range has fallen significantly from the early days with Toronto, when he was capable of playing center field. The defensive shortcomings could lead the Dodgers to consider a more versatile alternative. The club certainly has the resources to make an outfield addition if they were to ship out Hernandez.
Kansas City’s outfielders ranked among the weakest offensive contributors last season. The club’s center fielders combined for a .645 OPS, and that was their best mark among the three outfield positions. The Royals did their best to find a righty slugger to add to the mix last year, but none of Randal Grichuk, Hunter Renfroe, or Mark Canha panned out. The lineup would likely have the left-handed trio of Jac Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, and John Rave manning the grass if the season started today.
The Royals scored the fifth-fewest runs last season. They were also bottom five in home runs. The top of the lineup is set, but there are plenty of question marks past Salvador Perez in the cleanup spot. An addition in the outfield seems like the easiest route to improve the club’s offensive outlook. Top prospect Caglianone will get a chance to stick as a regular, but Rave had middling results in the minors before struggling in his MLB debut, and Isbel has never hit for an extended stretch as a big leaguer. Isbel has routinely graded out as a stellar defender, so he could potentially alleviate some of the defensive issues that would come with acquiring Hernandez.
Photo courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio, Imagn Images
If Dodgers unload Teoscar, do they sign Bellinger or Tucker?
I can see them offering Tucker a high aav contract for 3 to 5 years. It’s rumored Belli is looking for more of a long term deal still.
Seems like a poor fit
Big OF hurts his other and exploits his poor defense
*offense
Teoscar hit far more than one homer in the playoffs. (text as of 11:55pm ET). He had more than one by the 5th inning of the first game.
Yeah, idk where they pulled those stats from. I figured it was his World Series numbers, but nope, he hit .241 in the World Series.
For the record, Hernandez had five homers this postseason.
Looks like the .257 was from the 2025 playoffs as a whole (18 for 70) and the 1 hr was from the World Series.
MLBTR doesn’t proofread.
What % of commenters actually read the articles?
Not enough %
Hard pass. MAYBE if Dodgers eat money AND it’s not for any starter currently slated to be in our big league rotation. Teo is an ok piece, but he’s not the solution to our problem.
That’s probably the type of trade LA is interested in. Move Teo, include some $ and get a prospect(maybe a comp pick) far away from the 40 man roster. Something similar to the Lux trade last year.
As a Dodger fan I approve this trade.
They already did. Half of that 66 million is already paid by a large signing bonus. And what’s left is deferred. If I remember right, he’s only due 12 mill next season.
Teo had 5 HR in the postseason not 1…
Would be hilarious if the Dodgers unload Hernandez and acquire Tucker/Bellinger. That’s a boss move
The ultimate flex lol. I love Teo though, don’t want to dump him
And then they trade for Skubal. Dodgers acquire Tucker, Bellinger, Skubal, Diaz. I wonder if that would break baseball?? I wonder if that would be too egregious for some Dodgers fans? “No, I just can’t support this team any longer; they are too good. It’s become unfair and an embarrassment of riches.” I wonder what would happen? Is there a red line? The Dodgers go 130-32.
Nah. I lived through the McCourt and Fox years.
I don’t see a red line anywhere. In five years maybe it’s a long dry streak due to contacts. But for now? I’m all in just like the Dodgers. Win while you can.
Yes indeed, perspective can be useful. Not so long ago, Dodgers fans were enduring a 30-year championship drought, and to hear some tell it, the Dodgers were the Choke Kings who’d go a century without winning a “real” championship. They were Los Angeles Cubs. But now that they’ve won two in a row, they are destroying the sport.
So I say, sure, go ahead and hate on the Dodgers. I get it. As a Dodgers fan through thick and thin (and a Mets fan growing up), I had plenty of opportunity to hate on the Yankees and their multiple dynasty periods. Meanwhile I am going to enjoy the Golden Age Dodgers for however long it lasts.
Clip, I actually fully expect that. Maybe either/or but they will definitely replace him, and scuttlebutt is Tucker.
Teo is to good of a fit and a clubhouse guy to move on from. Kansas also seems like a place he would play horribly with. Such a deep ballpark to hit in, which is a home run hitters worst nightmare. Also, the last thing we need is pitching right now. The absolute last thing lol
He’s a great fit in the clubhouse but is better suited for a DH/LF role. If LA thinks they can get a Kwan, Duran, Tucker or Donovan, then I could see them using Edman/Kim at 2B/CF moving Pages to RF and putting the new player in LF.
Royals OF is rivaling the Rockies BP for worst position group in baseball
I’m pretty sure the Rockies bats are battling the Rockies pitchers for that honor. They almost managed to score the fewest runs in baseball, while playing in Denver. Then you look at their run differential (-424) that made the 2024 White Sox blush (-306).
*taps fingers together like Mr Burns* Excellent. Less flail at the plate is a good thing.
flawed player, but man I love the dude
I can’t like a player who noticeably dogs it on occasion.
He played the second half with a nagging groin injury. A lot of the grief he gets for “dogging” it is almost certainly because he was told not to risk aggravating it.
That said, he should be in LF not RF.
A different team will be even better. I see no situation in which someone will say “I wish we still had Teoscar Hernandez.”
The Dodgers don’t need the money, so they are not giving up a chunk of prospects to save some.
Give it up gapper. Your suggestion is not realistic.
Dodgers don’t care about saving money. They’re more likely to pay his contract down for a bigger prospect return. When was the last time LA sent prospects to get out from under a bad deal? You really think they would send 4 farmhands to shed $44 million?
Yeah, the only reason to move Teo would be to free up a roster space for a better player….
File this under Not Going to Happen.
With not many trades coming out of the winter meetings “doesn’t seem likely“ means
write an article anyway. Lots of reports on what is not happening.
Dodgers keep Teo and put him in left field. Then either sign Tucker to a 4 year high AAV or try to work a deal for Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu from the Red Sox or Brendan Donovan from the Cardinals.
A much more likely scenario.
Agreed. Did burn some calories in clicking on the “mute” button for a certain unnamed someone. Proly not the only one that did so.
Headline: “Royals Want to Win World Series” is just as relevant as this dopey article.
Teo will be better next year assuming he heals up. His biggest issue is plate discipline. He is passable in LF if healthy. They need one more outfielder. Probably not gonna be Tucker. Something tells me the Mets outbid the competition to save face with their emotional fan base. Leaves no clear upgrade in the free agent market for LA (i dont see Belli coming back). The Dodger likely eyeing a trade to fill the hole. Red Sox want alot for Duran so i doubt they meet those demands. Maybe they send 4 of their top 10 prospects for James Wood and a smaller piece. What you guys think? Excited to see how it plays out
Would prefer a sprinkling/hit parade/mixer of Hope, Ward, Sirota and Quintero for 15 game/two week stretches apiece with Rushing spelling the Fresh Prince 1-2x a week, Freddie at 1st twice a month and roaming the OF 1x a week for ab’s/playing time. Kiké, Rojas and Edman gotta play here and there but feel like they + Freeland cover all the 2nd-SS-3rd infield injuries/days off.
So run it back as is and let the kids play. Not the villainous approach many expect.
As someone who has seen his bat with my own eyes, I can’t believe Ward hasn’t gotten a cup of coffee yet
They’d have been better off keeping Yaz.
WSox owner Reinsdorf will not pay real money to vets to get some prospects. In fact, they want to find a taker to shed part of Benintendi’s salary.
No way are the KC Royals shelling out 22 million per year for Teoscar the next two years. Tremendous overpay for a declining talent.
He’s heading to Cincinnati I’ll bet. Underachievers are their specialty. ( Moustakas, Candelario etc). Arroyo, Hinds, and Singer are headed to the Dodgers.
Not to mention last year’s acquisition, Gavin Lux
There’s no world where the Dodgers trade 4 prospects to dump Teo. As mentioned here by other replies, they don’t care about the money. If they couldn’t find a suitor and wanted to move on, they’d just release him.
This dude doesn’t understand how the Dodgers operate….
Go Rockies. Go pirates. Go angels. Teams have plenty of money. Maybe the angels will pay more than 60 million for a pitcher.
Note: 600 at bats for dh trout. Campaneronin left, rada in center, Grissom at 3rd. Sign high end starter and reliever. You can do it farte.
If the Dodgers would pay that contract down, I could see the Reds taking a flyer since he seems to hit well in that ballpark and would fill a left field hole. But probably too outside the box thinking for Krall.
Teo is getting dangerously close to castellanos production. Poor defender, league average offense, similar pay. If the dodgers don’t cover $15mil/year they’ll get nothing in return
Witt for Hernandez confirmed
Fans love the idea of attaching prospects to offset the expensive players but I can’t recall a team doing this. Only in the opposite like Mets paying down verlander/Scherzer to get a better return. They would never add a prospect to the deal to save money. Even small market teams like the twins paid down Correa contract instead of adding prospects
Wow you actually did some research and came up with some examples! Even though they are a decade old and none of the prospects turned into much, touki Reese and Harold all had some okay production. I’ll have to check on the returns for those deals
Touki Triscuit**