While veteran utility player Enrique Hernandez is drawing interest from the Angels among several other clubs, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Halos fear that Hernandez prefers to return to the Dodgers, with whom he played from 2015 to 2020 before the club re-acquired him at the 2023 trade deadline in a deal with the Red Sox.
Hernandez, 32, sports the versatility to play anywhere on the diamond except catcher. While the veteran struggled at the plate during his time in Boston last year, he enjoyed a resurgence upon returning to L.A. with a respectable .262/.308/.423 slash line in 185 plate appearances. If Hernandez were able to replicate those offensive numbers over a full season in 2024, that roughly league average offense and his positional versatility would combine to make him among the more valuable bench options in the game. With that being said, Rosenthal adds that the Dodgers appear to have their priorities focused elsewhere as they search for a high-leverage bullpen arm to complement the likes of Brusdar Graterol and Evan Phillips.
Dodgers bullpen arms posted a strong 3.42 ERA last season, the third-best figure in the majors behind only the Yankees and Brewers. Nonetheless, it’s sensible for the club to look for relief upgrades. After all, the club’s production out of the bullpen dramatically improved upon their acquisition of veteran righty Ryan Brasier, who posted an eye-popping 0.70 ERA in 39 appearances with L.A. after being acquired from the Red Sox last June. Prior to Brasier’s arrival, the Dodgers’ bullpen was struggling to an ERA of 4.94, bottom-two in the majors alongside the lowly A’s. To that end, Rosenthal suggests the club could look to reunite with Brasier or perhaps even longtime closer Kenley Jansen, who the Red Sox are reportedly shopping this winter.
More from around the NL West…
- Rosenthal also discusses the recent deal between the Diamondbacks and lefty slugger Joc Pederson. Rosenthal notes that prior to accepting a fourth consecutive one-year deal in free agency Pederson indicated to Arizona that he hopes to “restore his value” with the club in 2024 before returning to free agency in search of a multi-year pact. For Pederson, Rosenthal suggests that would involve showing he’s more than a platoon DH. The Diamondbacks’ outfield mix is a fairly crowded one with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Corbin Carroll entrenched as regulars alongside a litany of potential options like Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, and even Dominic Fletcher. Each of the aforementioned names is a stronger defender in the outfield than Pederson, so the 31-year-old could instead look to boost his stock by playing more regularly against southpaws, against whom he has taken just 606 plate appearances during his entire career.
- Newly-acquired Giants southpaw Robbie Ray spoke to reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) as he rehabs from UCL and flexor tendon surgery. The 32-year-old southpaw said it feels as though he has a “brand new elbow,” and that he hopes to begin throwing off a mound early on during Spring Training. In terms of a timetable for his return to the big league pitching staff, Ray suggests that a return around the All-Star break would be a “best-case scenario.” The 2021 AL Cy Young award winner, Ray posted a 3.31 ERA and 3.94 FIP in 65 starts with the Blue Jays and Mariners the past three seasons, though only one of those starts came in 2023 before Ray went under the knife back in May of last year. His eventual return should bolster a San Francisco rotation that currently figures to feature Logan Webb, Ross Stripling, and newly-signed righty Jordan Hicks alongside youngsters Kyle Harrison and Keaton Winn.
The police should be investigating Tim Anderson as the top suspect for the Jackie Robinson statue theft.
If it is replaced with one of Anderson, I would say it’s a definite.
The Robinson statue wasn’t stolen, it just disappeared into thin air. Mortgage your future – lose your past, Dodgers.
That’s the rules bestowed by the baseball gods.
Explain?
For every star player you sign with money you don’t have, the memory of a former great is erased.
It’s a fundamental law of the universe.
@terrier Thanks fer the takeaway, amigo!
Money they don’t have? What on Earth are you talking about.
He is talking out his jealoass
Kinda like how Kelly Bundy’s brain works.
@Terrier, you clearly have a lot to learn in regards to the funding of deferrals and the rules governing how they are funded.
Surprised the Dodgers haven’t signed Anderson and deferred the money until 2099.
Given how the Rangers just did that with David Robertson, I think their 2 deferred deals aren’t that out of place. I guess some players would rather not worry about finding a way to invest that money. Deferred deals may actually worth more than the accounting NPV, assuming players can’t find several banks that give them 3% and insure all their money (250k max).
Evidently original jokes have been deferred as well
You play fast and loose with the rules, you deserve what you get.
What on earth was “fast and loose with the rules” as it regards the signings the Dodgers made this winter?
post of the week hockey! and based on This one’s response, dope of the week.
@his one belongs to the Reds
Why would they need to defer any money on a guy who’s going to fetch about $2-3M per year? That’s about what Ohtani’s making.
If he would have taken that, he would have been signed by now.
Why would they defer money from any of these contracts so far? You know the answer.
Their fans don’t want it called out as I see above, but that’s just too bad. Own it.
If the Angels’ brass is seriously more concerned about whether Kike’ Hernandez would rather sign with the Dodgers, than making sensible baseball moves, then they just need to collectively fire themselves.
My bigger question is why hasn’t the james paxton signing hasn’t been made official yet?
Perhaps he injured himself again.
“San Francisco rotation that currently figures to feature Logan Webb, Ross Stripling, and newly-signed righty Jordan Hicks alongside youngsters Kyle Harrison and Keaton Winn.”
Transitioning Hicks from reliever to starter could be a horrible move. How often does it actually work going from reliever to starter?
He was originally a starter.
But he ended up in the bullpen, he will end up back there again, and he’s getting back end starter money.
That’s just a bad signing, not Strasburg bad, but it will not look good at the end of the deal. (Or by the middle of this year)
4/44 is a really good deal for either a starter or a reliever with closing potential. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the signing.
The concern has to be though, if they push him as a starter and he blows out an elbow or shoulder and is down for a year+, suddenly that contract could look unpleasant.
If he can stay healthy and return to the back of the bullpen after what is likely to be a failed starter experiment then it can still be a good contract.
If you were following Hicks he wanted to start. I think that’s the deal the Giants had to make to land him. With the current perception of the organization they have to do some different things to attract talent, opt outs they may not want to give position guarantees like this one. The quickest change is going to be to replace Farhan whether it’s his fault or not. It’s similar to changing the head coach of a football team, it may not be solely his fault the direction the team is heading but replacing him will signal a catalyst for change that will help (along with boatloads of cash) to attract star players.
He was a starter in the minors but when brought to the bigs immediately went to the pen….he did start some games in 2018 but that didn’t work out too well……his backend pen potential is just that….but agree that thats where he’ll end up and is probably better suited there too.
Strsburg signing wasn’t bad the contract is insured
It still was bad. Even if insurance covered the majority of quarter mill for 13 innings. No dodging that.
@steeler
Where are you getting that information? Every source I have seen says Strasberg’s contract was not insured.
Pretty obvious from the reporting that the team giving him an opportunity to start was the team that was getting his signature. The success or failure is on Hicks, not the Giants.
@Le
Michael Lorenzen and Seth Lugo both successfully transitioned into starters. So it’s not very often, but it can happen.
Miguel Vargas for Jason Foley or Alex Lange. Foley might cost you more 😉
The Dodgers will be below .500 this season. Ohtani is going to bat .250 with 20 homers. Regression from Betts and Freeman. Muncy’s batting average will be so low they can’t play him. Jason Hyeward will be released before August. Pitching injury for Glasnow…. Yamamoto will be ineffective, somehow Bobby Miller will be the pedestrian Ace of the staff.
Put your money where your mouth your mouth is. You can get good odds on the Dodgers finishing below .500.
The Dodgers won the NL West with half their minor leagues rostered last year, so anyone that thinks they’ll be under .500 after a BILLION dollar reload is crazy.
Then the fans quit coming, they file bankruptcy, Gavin Newsom gives the stadium to illegal immigrants, and the new Nashville Dodgers start the rebuild.
What a sad little man you must be
Illegal immigrants lol
More like homeless people
Cmon man I’m just poking a little fun at the dodgers and dumb California politics. No reason to get butt hurt.
I don’t see anyone in here that’s butt hurt all I see is people calling you out on your jealous nonsense and your unnecessary political bias on a sports site.
Naw I doubt anything you just said actually happens
It’s way too early in the day to start drinking.
some people have a very hard time with jealousy
LA lives rent free in your skull. Fact.
Don’t forget the fortunes of the departed… Lance Lynn gives up 0.7 HR per 9 innings pitched for StL (just kidding, he gave up another during the writing of this post).
Alex Cobb
The only thing that should be feared about Kike is having to pay him IKF money.
“Should be feared”…The scariest nightmare of all time is Kike Hernandez as your starting SS. I think he may be the worst SS I’ve ever seen at the Major League level.
I remember when Robbie Ray threw a poor man’s Pat Corbin slider, then he learned the Roger Beshens football slider and now the tables are turned Ray throws it better than Corbin. Randy Johnson didn’t teach Ray the slider cause in May 2018 Robbie Ray learned the football slider from Roger Beshens and in Arizona Ray wasn’t staying closed enough, was trying to short arm it like, Cease, Bieber, Giolito…All that’s behind Ray now he should buy Roger Beshens a black corvette with Football Slider on the doors.
No matter how many times you say it every one else will still just call it a sweeper.
Or perhaps we could call it the Sergio Romo No Dot Slider ?
Which is another example of guys tinkering with it to get more movement.
He featured it over 10 years ago…so maybe it’s not your pitch at all.
You have no clue what’s going on. A select few pitchers over the decades threw what I call the football slider. Carlton, Guidry, Miller Hand.. chose to NEVER tell their teammates cause that was their pride and joy pitch. I never created the pitch, what I did do was expose how Andrew Miller threw his slider on Twitter in May 2018 by contacting hundreds of ML pitchers and by doing that I started the Football Slider revolution. It started May 2018. I always show one of them as proof I”m legit. Brandon McCarthy asked me May 29 2018 to teach him my football slider and he told me he threw it June 2 2018 vs Nats he told me he whiffed Rendon Turner, Gonzales with it, gave up a HR to Michael Taylor but it’s going to be a weapon…34 K’s in that game and Biddle whiffed 8 in 3 IP 5 with my football slider.
Major League pitchers know the Sweeper is the Roger Beshens football slider. Musgrove has messages with Taillon, Glasnow and Trevor Williams mentioning the Football Slider. Trevor Williams even told Roger Beshens he should charge a 1000 a Pop The 2018 Pirates ALL know the Roger Beshens Football Slider. They know the Gyro and Sweeper are the Roger Beshens football slider just thrown from all arm angles. Brandon McCarthy’s Texas Rangers know the Roger Beshens football slider, Blake Snell, Gerrit Cole couldn’t avg over a K an IP until 2018 they learned the football slider. In 2018 MLB for the 1st time in it’s history had more K’s than hit’s. Over 50 pitchers did the same thing as cole and snell, Sonny Gray was nothing with the 2018 Yankees he then learned the Roger Beshens Football Slider. Jon Gray, Bieber, Giolito, Holmes, Schmidt, King, Freeland, Marquez, Bard, Cobb, deGrom, Rodon there are over 600 guys throwing it and the Rays blueprint since they saw Glasnow throw it in June 19 2018 with Pitt is to teach the Roger Beshens football slider to all or a select group and spend the big money on hitting. The Rays wanted Glasnow cause he threw the Roger Beshens football slider and then they couldn’t afford Glasnow cause he threw the Roger Beshens football slider.
Who are the Yankees interested in today that they won’t sign?
Jon Heyman has the answer.
Babe Ruth is reportedly on a plane headed to NY.
That plane would have a distinctive odor, for sure.
Alas! For want of a pen!
Robbie Ray throws with max effort every pitch. He needs the heat to get batters out. I bet after the surgery his velo will be down and or hell reinjure his elbow or a diff part of his body. Glad Toronto didnt resign him. His Giants tenure will likely fail but hoping he succeeds for his team.
Joc needs to get serious about his conditioning. Looked terrible playing fat last cpl yrs. He’s got pop when he’s goin good. Everytime he desires dbl cheeseburger he should count the pearls on his necklace until thought wanes.
It starts getting hard at his age. Put down the pizza and start planking, Joc!
Agree. His weight has gone off the charts.
If the Dodgers were at all interested in re-signing Kike, it would have been done by Thanksgiving. They already have 13 playing position slots filled, no room even to look at prospects. I can’t imagine the Angels are being held up by the Dodgers.
Work is Work, of course, but sure sounds like Joc accepted a deal that is not good match with his career plans.
Which position player goes off the roster if the Dodgers sign a second Hernandez? Hard to see how they slide him in anywhere.
agree
I would prefer Joc be a platoon DH. I don’t want to see him in the Dbacks outfield nor do I want to see him at the plate vs LHPs. Just say no, Torrey.
Dear Dodgers… while we have given you ( for 350 million) one of our top 10( 20 for sure) best players ever… our iconic all time clutch SB player ( for you manager)and leader of a basement fight club in Boston… I’m sorry WE (ok I )want Brais back.. thank you for fixing him.. consider your debt to us ( above mentioned) payed in full.Thanks from All of Red Sox Nation!! ( that lives in suburb of Chicago , got a picture with him and also is the president of Ryan Brasier fan club )
Uh, what?
@BlueSkies
@Olmtiant is a Red Sox fan who wants them to bring back Brasier.
I don’t blame him, since I’d like the Dodgers to bring back Brasier. And, for the life of me, I can’t imagine any Dodgers fan–given the choice between trading away a prospect or two for Jansen, or simply re-signing Brasier–would ever opt for the former.
Props for figuring out that word salad.
Jansen really doesn’t have a role on this team. They finally settled on Phillips to close most games and Jansen would be wasted in a setup role. He also tends to struggle in it.
It is weird how the BoSox & Dodgers went from having almost no trades for decades to LA suddenly becoming the preferred destination for players the Sox didn’t want or didn’t want to pay for, Nomah, Manny, A-Gon, Lester, He Who Shall Not Be Named Because Weeping Jesus On The Cross How Do You Even Consider Trading HIM…that’s a lot of Boston in the Ravine.
Don’t see a Hernandez to the Dodgers fit
They’d have to move…Margot? Maybe Taylor or Rojas?
I mean, I guess if they could get a decent return for Taylor and replace him with Hernandez it might make sense
We all just need to throw our hands up and surrender because once a Dodger always a Dodger, not only can and will they buy anyone they please but players all want to play there, sign up for an easy ring where they won’t have to do much, and the rest of the league is helpless. Hernandez, Jansen, they’ll both be Dodgers. Brasier too. No one wants to leave the best D they’ve even known and now this greedy franchise and worthless fans have ruined the sport for the next decade at least.
K
Everyone except Brasier… he wants to help bring the 5th ring in last 25 back to Boston!!! Might take another 25 but he’s gutsy!!!
Killer MSNBC take bruh
That’s a lot of feels.
@Mickey Solis
I’d suggest therapy. Or a long walk. Or perhaps a nap.
Robbie Ray’s slider in 2018 was not as good as Corbin’s.
2018 is when a non traditional slider was introduced to hundreds of ML pitchers. 2018 was the first year in MLB history there was more K’s than hits. It was cause of that non trad. slider.
Snell and Cole couldn’t avg over a K an IP until 2018, they learned that slider.
Sonny Gray was not very good with the Yankees cause he didn’t learn that slider yet.
Glasnow, Musgrove Taillon Crick, Kuhl where all stuck in Pitt in 2018 all ready to rot, out of nowhere they got a message on Twitter from Roger Beshens, it said, On center grip, throw like a football, stiff wrist. Glasnow then got noticed by the Rays throwing that Roger Beshens Football slider. The Rays blueprint since 2019 teach the pitchers the Roger Beshens football slider and pay the big money for the hitting.