Enrique Hernandez played through most of the 2025 season with a torn muscle in his left (non-throwing) arm, and he underwent surgery to address the problem back in November. Hernandez suggested during an offseason interview with Adam Ottavino (hat tip to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen) that his recovery process would cost him “a month or two” of the regular season, but Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes suggested a slightly longer timeline, telling The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters today that the team expected Hernandez closer to midseason.
The status of Hernandez’s elbow didn’t stop Los Angeles from re-signing the utilityman to a one-year, $4.5MM free agent contract. Hernandez hasn’t yet been placed on the 60-day injured list, so the Dodgers may think there is still some chance he might be able to return within the first two months of regular-season action. Gomes noted that Hernandez will soon start swinging, which should provide some data on the 34-year-old’s progress.
Some might argue that Hernandez only needs to be ready for October, given his history as a postseason performer. The veteran has a modest .236/.305/.403 slash line over 4152 plate appearances and 12 Major League seasons, but his postseason numbers (.272/.339/.486 in 328 PA) have made Hernandez a key part of the Dodgers’ three championship teams over the last six years.
Gomes also touched on Evan Phillips‘ recovery from Tommy John surgery, and his comparison to Phillips’ return as akin to a trade deadline acquisition suggests that the reliever should be back around late July. Since Phillips had his surgery in late May 2025, the timeline tracks with the usual TJ rehab period. Phillips himself told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that he is aiming to be back with the Dodgers by August at the latest, with an eye towards being fully ready for playoff baseball.
L.A. non-tendered Phillips in November, but re-signed the former closer to a one-year, $6.5MM deal earlier this week. It’s a fairly steep price for a pitcher who may pitch around a third of the regular season, yet the Dodgers can obviously afford it, and are counting on Phillips to regain his past status as a key leverage reliever. Phillips posted a 2.14 ERA over 184 2/3 innings for Los Angeles from 2022-25, recording 45 saves during his time as the team’s closer.
Unsurprisingly for a pitcher coming off a Tommy John procedure, Phillips’ market was pretty quiet, as the Red Sox were the only team publicly known to have interest this winter. Phillips told Harris that he had “plenty of teams kick the tires and check in” during the offseason, and talks with the Dodgers only started to reignite in early February.
Phillips won’t be returning to the closer role upon his return, both due to his long layoff and the fact that the Dodgers have now signed Edwin Diaz to handle ninth-inning duties. The three-time All-Star became yet another marquee Dodgers signing when he inked a three-year, $69MM deal back in December, and the $23MM average annual value of his contract is a new record for a relief pitcher.
Diaz headed to Los Angeles after a successful six-year run with the Mets, and many expected New York to again re-sign the closer. The Mets reportedly made Diaz a three-year, $66MM offer, but Diaz accepted the Dodgers’ offer without giving the Mets “a chance to counter,” MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. A source tells DiComo that New York was open to spending beyond $66MM to retain Diaz, but another source “said Diaz’s camp didn’t expect the Mets to increase their offer in a meaningful way,” which is why the closer settled on the Dodgers’ $69MM contract.
Diaz’s decision struck Mets owner Steve Cohen as “perplexing,” as he told team broadcaster Howie Rose in an interview earlier this week. “Obviously, it’s a personal decision on his part, and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.” Diaz didn’t directly respond to Cohen’s statement, but told reporters yesterday that “I think the Dodgers did a great job recruiting me. At the end of the day, I chose to be here. I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization, players, staff, ownership. They treated me really good. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. But at the end of the day, I’m here.”
Wow.
Just say no to Toronto
Toronto has a shoe museum. Place is a trip.
Big Bata Boom
Whatshoe talkin bout Willis?
I think Cohen was referring to the bizarre response Diaz had to the Willams signing, Diaz was pissed the Mets bullpen got better and felt slighted.
Sounds like a bit of a communication breakdown by the Mets. Sounds like Diaz wanted a better shot at a ring – he decided well before the Mets finished trying to upgrade.
Just one more reason to root for that to not happen.
Root for what not to happen? Mets resigning him?
Something doesn’t sit right here. Wasserman, much like Scott Boras, are known for getting their clients top dollar during free agency. After the Mets offered 3/$66M and LA countered with 3/$69M, there is no way Wasserman wouldn’t go back the Mets for a chance to improve their initial offer unless they were instructed by their client to accept LA’s offer “as is”. Maybe Diaz just wanted to beat the all-time AAV record for a relief pitcher, but that doesn’t really pass the sniff test either. My guess is that Diaz either wanted to play for the best team in baseball or he was upset at some of the decisions made by the Mets organization like not re-signing Alonso. He’s keeping his true feelings to himself so he doesn’t upset the Mets fans and doesn’t carry a label of being ‘high maintenance’ across the league.
That’s a lot of speculation.
If he was legit interested in both teams, they ask for final and best offers by X date and move on, dodgers came out on top. It doesn’t keep going back and forth, every time is going to have a ceiling they won’t go over
You may be overthinking this. Steve Cohen doesn’t like to lose. Money is one thing he can control. First time with Tucker and second time with Diaz to the same team.
Diaz also said he chose the Dodgers because he “wants to win”
If the Mets ownership wasn’t motivated enough, this should do it. Not like he’s lying, only way to change the narrative is to WIN.
Cohen: I don’t know why on earth he’d do that!
Diaz: I am trying my best to not insult you.
It’s interesting that everyone assumes players just want to go to the dodgers so bad but then they absolutely overpay every single deal.
I’m sure the team and the weather is a factor, but they aren’t taking team friendly deals to go there
It’s what makes it so appealing to players. There’s literally no negative to signing with the Dodgers. As a business they do everything right, and they make you completely comfortable $$$ while at it.
Playing with one of the most historical players to ever live. Nice weather. Winning ball club and grade A organization.
Don’t get mad at them. BEAT THEM
I’m in no way mad at them. But there’s always negatives.
But always a plus when players break records and push contracts forward
The dont get mad part was more of a general statement
They most certainly do not “overpay every single deal.” In fact, they’ve enjoyed discounts from several players over the years, most recently from Max Muncy & Roki Sasaki.
Edwin Diaz didnt take the bait. Class act
A couple of months ago for the first time in my life I saw someone kicking a car tire. I have no idea why. But it made me wonder where the expression comes from, and why we use it.
BSLA
Rudimentary internet searching says that people used to kick the tires on cars to check the air pressure and tire quality before buying
I also read somewhere, that kicking the tires is the most “convenient” part of showing your frustration.
I imagine the “tire kicker” I saw a few months ago was venting his frustration. I did not stop to ask!
LOL
Juan: Some say. Having done a bit more than a rudimentary search, it seems use of the expression can be documented only as far back as the early 1960s. So while people may well have kicked tires in the early days of automobiles for some practical reason, it seemingly didn’t catch on as an expression until much later. A speech curiosity.
Kick the tires and light the fires. Aviation slang.
Digging in a bit more, I found a few references to kicking tires as a way of checking tire pressure dating back to 1908. It was considered to be a bit of joke back then, because kicking a tire really didn’t tell you much. It did not catch on as an expression for evaluating something before use until after 1960, and peaked in popularity around 25 years ago.
Whatever problems the Dodgers have they can just throw millions or tens of millions of hundreds of millions of dollars at it. So why should anyone care what problems they might have? It makes no difference.