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Enrique Hernandez

Dodgers Notes: Rojas, Hernandez, Hudson

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Miguel Rojas was left off the Dodgers’ NLCS roster due to a partially torn left adductor muscle, and the infielder has already said he’ll need to undergo surgery to correct the problem after the season is over.  However, as Rojas told Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, he is also dealing with a sports hernia that will require more surgical attention.

Despite it all, Rojas is still hoping he can heal up enough in the interim to be part of a potential World Series roster if the Dodgers can get past the Mets.  Rojas suffered the adductor injury in the last week of the regular season and was able to play in three games in the NLDS (hitting two singles in eight plate appearances) but hasn’t played since he was removed for a pinch-runner in the third inning of Game 3.

Assuming Los Angeles did advance to the Fall Classic, there’s obvious risk for the Dodgers in rostering a player who clearly won’t be at anything close to 100 percent.  Teams can make (with league approval) injury-related roster substitutions once the World Series begins, yet that wouldn’t prevent the Dodgers from finding themselves short-handed during a game if Rojas had to make another early exit.  The decision will ultimately hinge on both Rojas’ health and what the team feels a limited version of Rojas can still bring to the infield mix.  Other injuries will also be factors, like the hip flexor issue that kept Gavin Lux out of Game 2 of the NLCS.

With these health issues mounting, Enrique Hernandez has been a godsend for the lineup, as the utilityman moved into the starting lineup once Rojas went down.  Since Tommy Edman took over for Rojas at shortstop, Hernandez has become the new primary center fielder, though Hernandez has also seen action at third and second base, including a start at second base in Lux’s place in Game 2.  In addition to the defensive versatility, Hernandez has been hot at the plate, with two home runs and a 1.084 OPS in 20 PA in the Dodgers’ last five games.

Hernandez had already established a reputation for himself as a clutch postseason hitter prior to 2024, though his improved form might’ve been sparked during the summer when he started wearing glasses.  As The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal notes, a conversation with Martin Maldonado in June inspired Hernandez to undergo an eye exam, which revealed an astigmatism in his right eye.  Hernandez started wearing glasses to help his vision, and after an adjustment period, he hit .274/.307/.458 slash line over his final 180 PA of the regular season.  While not standout numbers, it was still a marked improvement over the .191/.258/.299 line Hernandez posted in his first 213 PA.

In other Dodgers injury news, right-hander Daniel Hudson didn’t pitch in Game 2 due to what manager Dave Roberts revealed to media (including Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times) described as a “lower-body” problem.  Hudson was deemed available for Game 3 and while he wasn’t one of five pitchers used in the Dodgers’ 8-0 win, that might’ve had more to do with the increasingly lopsided score than with any lingering concerns over his injury.

With gamesmanship in full effect in the playoffs, it isn’t surprising that Roberts wasn’t specific with the nature of Hudson’s issue.  Any sort of lower-body injury is of particular concern in Hudson’s case given that he tore his ACL in June 2022, and then pitched just three innings during the 2023 season due to recovery from that ACL tear and then an MCL strain.

The good news is that Hudson returned from these injury-marred years to deliver a healthy and productive 2024 season.  Hudson allowed a ton of hard contact and benefited from a .225 BABIP, but he finished the year with a 3.00 ERA and above-average strikeout and walk rates over 63 innings out of the Los Angeles bullpen.  A postseason hero for the Nationals in their 2019 World Series run, Hudson has continued his strong work in October with 3 1/3 scoreless innings so far in these playoffs.

Yankees Notes: Hernández, Snell, Schmidt

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Utility player Enrique Hernández signed with the Dodgers earlier this week after having reported interest from clubs such as the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Padres. Hernández spoke to Foul Territory about his free agency (video link via X), adding that the Tigers were also interested but that it came down to the Dodgers and Yankees at the end.

The interest from the Tigers was not previously reported, but it seems fair to assume it came before they signed another utility infielder, Gio Urshela. That the Yankees were at the table is not something that was previously reported and would seem to suggest they are open to adding another utility player to their roster.

There are a few different ways Hernández could have been useful off the bench for the Yankees. The club is set to have veterans DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo at the infield corners, both of whom are now in the mid-30s and struggled with injuries last year. He could have given them some extra cover at those spots while also perhaps getting into the outfield mix in a platoon capacity, pairing with lefty Alex Verdugo.

Hernández hits from the right side and has a career slash of .257/.343/.458 against southpaws, good enough for a 115 wRC+, compared to a line of .228/.290/.377 and 80 wRC+ against righties. Verdugo’s career splits are .290/.346/.461 and 115 wRC+ against righties but .259/.315/.350 and 80 wRC+ versus lefties. Left-hander Trent Grisham is also in the mix but he has reverse splits.

The Yankees project to have a bench of Jose Trevino, Oswaldo Cabrera and Grisham in three spots. That leaves one spot open, which could go to Oswald Peraza, but he has an option and is probably better served getting regular reps in the minors as opposed to sitting on the big league bench.

The club’s interest in Hernández suggests they could sign a veteran to plug into their bench, though there aren’t many proven infield/outfield types unsigned. Donovan Solano hasn’t played the outfield since 2012 while guys like Elvis Andrus or Jonathan Schoop never have. Free agent outfielders like Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall or Michael A. Taylor can’t help on the infield. The Yanks just claimed Jahmai Jones off waivers, who has experience on the dirt and the grass and is out of options, so perhaps they will just turn to him or some other claimee to fill out their bench.

Elsewhere in Yankee tidbits, the club continues to be tied to Blake Snell as the lefty lingers on the market. Recent reporting has suggested Snell may follow Cody Bellinger in pivoting to a short-term deal with opt-outs and high average annual values, though this wouldn’t work well for a club like the Yankees. They are already over the fourth and final tier of the competitive balance tax and face a 110% tax on any additional spending. RosterResource puts their CBT number at $307MM, already $10MM over the $297MM top line.

Hypothetically, if Snell wanted the same $30MM salary as Bellinger this year, the Yankees would also have to pay $33MM in taxes to give it to him. Snell also rejected a qualifying offer, so the Yankees would have to surrender their second- and fifth-highest picks in the upcoming draft and $1MM of international bonus pool space to sign him. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic looked at the situation today and reported that it remains unlikely the two sides will get something done for those exact reasons.

As long as the Yankees don’t sign Snell or any other pitcher, then Clarke Schmidt projects as the number five behind Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes. Kuty spoke to manager Aaron Boone about Schmidt, with the skipper highlighting the strong finish to his season. “He never lost confidence,” Boone said. “He never lost focus. Then he put together a really strong 4 1/2 or five months — after Gerrit, he was the guy we could kind of hang our hat on. Hopefully there’s another step in that.”

In his ninth start of the season, Schmidt allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Rays and had a 6.30 earned run average at that point. But he put up a 4.08 ERA the rest of the way, allowing him to finish at 4.64 for the season overall. The Yanks will be hoping the 28-year-old can take another step forward here in 2024, as they traded away much of their rotation depth in the deal that brought over Grisham and Juan Soto.

Dodgers Sign Enrique Hernández To One-Year Deal

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The Dodgers announced that they have signed utility player Enrique Hernández to a one-year deal. No corresponding move will be necessary as they opened a roster spot by trading outfielder Manuel Margot to the Twins. Hernández, a Wasserman client, will reportedly make $4MM this year.

As news started to leak out about about Margot being traded to Minnesota, speculation turned to Hernández almost immediately. There was reporting over the weekend that the Giants, Angels, Twins and Padres were interested in him but he will instead head back to the club that he’s played for throughout most of his career.

Now 32, Hernández spent 2015 to 2020 with the Dodgers, largely deployed as a serviceable multi-positional guy. He hit .240/.312/.425 over those six years, production that led to a wRC+ of 98. Though that offense was slightly below average, he still helped the club by being able to slot in all over the place. He played all four infield positions and all three outfield spots during that time, and even made an appearance on the mound.

Going into 2021, he reached free agency and signed with the Red Sox on a two-year, $14MM deal. He was excellent in the first year of that pact, hitting 2o home runs and slashing .250/.337/.449 for a wRC+ of 109. He spent most of his time in center field, getting strong grades there, while also lining up at the middle infield spots.

In 2022, his offense took a step back. He went on the injured list due to a right hip flexor strain and missed over two months. Nonetheless, the Sox still had faith in a bounceback. In September of that year, they gave him a $10MM salary to stick around for 2023. He finished 2022 with a line of .222/.291/.338 for a wRC+ of 74.

With Trevor Story set to miss significant time in 2023 recovering from elbow surgery, the Sox tried to make Hernández their everyday shortstop, though the experiment didn’t work out. The defensive metrics didn’t like his work there, as he was saddled with a grade of -6 from Defensive Runs Saved and -12 Outs Above Average. He also hit just .222/.279/.320 before getting flipped back to the Dodgers at the deadline. Returning to his old stomping grounds seemed to suit him, as he hit .262/.308/.423 while bouncing all over the diamond for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers may never have been fully committed to Margot, as they took him on as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade. The Rays were looking to move some payroll in the Glasnow deal but also saved some more by including Margot, who is owed $12MM this year in the form of a $10MM salary and then a $2MM buyout on a club option for 2025.

The Dodgers are set to have a regular outfield of James Outman, Teoscar Hernández and Jason Heyward this year. Margot and his right-handed bat could have platooned with Heyward, who had a bounceback year in 2023 while being mostly shielded from southpaws, but the Dodgers also have other options for that role. Right-hander Chris Taylor is also on the roster and now Hernández will join him, giving the club two guys who could platoon with Heyward while also adding some infield depth as well. Hernández has hit .257/.343/.458 in his career against lefties for a 115 wRC+, compared to .228/.290/.377 and a wRC+ of 80 versus righties.

The Dodgers are going to have a middle infield combo of Gavin Lux at shortstop and Mookie Betts at second base. The former missed all of 2023 after tearing his ACL and damaging the LCL in his right knee, while Betts only recently moved to the infield after spending most of his career in right field. Miguel Rojas is on the roster as a glove-first depth option and Taylor is in the mix there as well, but Hernández can help out while also taking Margot’s role as the fourth outfielder.

The Dodgers are over the fourth and final line of the competitive balance tax and are a third-time payor. That means any money added to the payroll now comes with a 110% tax rate. However, they will end up being cash neutral today as they are saving $4MM in the Margot deal and giving $4MM to Hernández.

Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that it would be a one-year pact. Hernández himself first relayed that the deal was done. Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. had the $4MM salary.

Enrique Hernandez Reportedly Deciding Between Four Teams

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Free agent utility player Enrique Hernandez is deciding between the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Padres, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The news comes on the heels of a report yesterday that indicated Hernandez was nearing a decision.

Hernandez, 32, opened the 2024 season as the starting shortstop for the Red Sox, though he struggled both with the glove and at the plate in the role. After slashing .222/.279/.320 in 323 trips to the plate with Boston in the first half of the season, the club shipped Hernandez to the Dodgers for the stretch run. It was a homecoming for Hernandez, who had already played in L.A. for six seasons before signing in Boston prior to the 2021 season via free agency, and in his return to the Dodgers he found some success in a bench role. Hernandez slashed a roughly league average .262/.308/.423 down the stretch in L.A. while bouncing between every spot on the diamond except for catcher.

The veteran has generally been utilized as a bench bat throughout his career, filling in all over the diamond thanks to his versatility and often getting reps against southpaws due to a career .801 OPS against left-handed pitching. That being said, Hernandez typically provides slightly below average offense overall. Since first joining the Dodgers prior to the 2015 season, Hernandez sports a career slash line of .239/.310/.408, good for a wRC+ of 93. That lack of offensive presence has typically kept him from securing a full-time role; 2023 was just the second season of Hernandez’s career where he totaled 500 plate appearances in a season despite routinely appearing in 130 or more games for his club.

Looking at the reported suitors for Hernandez’s services, the Angels are perhaps the least surprising given their previously reported interest in the 32-year-old. It’s easy to see why the Halos would have interest in Hernandez’s services. While the club has plenty of interesting pieces backing up superstar Mike Trout in the lineup, the club’s lineup offers little in the way of certainty. Trout and former star slugger Anthony Rendon have been plagued by injury woes in recent years that have kept both veterans off the field more often than not, while exciting youngsters like Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel have potential but are hardly a guarantee to produce in the majors after short stays in the minor leagues.

Hernandez’s versatility would allow him to cover for virtually any player in the Anaheim lineup in the event of injury or under-performance, and the DH spot left open by the departure of Shohei Ohtani could provide Hernandez a path to semi-regular at-bats even in the event the club’s starting lineup manages to stay healthy and effective. Hernandez’s versatility could also allow the club to offer more consistency to 26-year-old infielder Luis Rengifo, who appears poised to enter the year as the club’s starting second baseman but appeared at six different positions in 2023.

The other three suitors for Hernandez’s services had not been publicly connected to the veteran previously. That being said, each of them could make plenty of sense as a fit for the utility man. The Padres, in particular, are in clear need of outfield depth after entering the spring with just two outfielders on their 40-man roster in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Azocar. They’ve added Jurickson Profar on a big league deal since then and have non-roster invitees such as Oscar Mercado attempting to earn a roster spot in Spring Training, but Hernandez would offer the club a steady, veteran presence off the bench who can handle all three outfield spots and could take pressure off prospects like Jackson Merrill and Jakob Marsee to prove themselves ready for regular big league action.

The roster fit for Hernandez in Minnesota and San Francisco is a little less obvious, as both clubs already have crowded positional mixes. With that being said, the presence of Hernandez could provide the Giants with some veteran stability at shortstop should youngster Marco Luciano not hit the ground running at the position, and Hernandez’s right-handed bat could serve as a strong complement to an outfield featuring a trio of lefty regulars in Michael Conforto, Jung Hoo Lee, and Mike Yastrzemski.

Meanwhile, the Twins have a several young lefty bats in their lineup such as Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, and Matt Wallner. Adding Hernandez to the club’s positional mix would give the club a right-handed bat to complement those youngsters while also providing a clear backup option in center field should oft-injured star Byron Buxton return to the shelf at some point this season. Buxton also isn’t the only piece on the Twins’ roster that has struggled with injuries in recent years, as each of Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, and Carlos Correa also dealt with injury woes last season. While it might be hard for Minnesota to fit Hernandez on their roster as things stand, the club could attempt to clear roster space by shopping fellow utility player Kyle Farmer or even simply option Jose Miranda, who figured to serve as a right-handed bat off the club’s bench this year, to Triple-A to open the season.

Enrique Hernandez Expected To Sign In Coming Days

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Free agent utilityman Enrique Hernández is expected to sign within the next two to three days, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (X link). It isn’t clear how many teams remain in the market.

Hernández has drawn reported interest from the Angels this winter. The Halos are presumably one of multiple teams that has touched base with his camp. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote last month that the Angels felt Hernández might prefer to stick with the Dodgers after finishing last season in L.A., although it’s unclear if the Dodgers have made any effort to bring him back.

The 10-year big league veteran split the 2023 campaign between Boston and Los Angeles. Hernández got off to a rough start with the Red Sox, hitting only .222/.279/.320 with six homers across 323 plate appearances. The Sox dealt Hernández to L.A. a week before the trade deadline. He had a better but hardly overwhelming offensive showing in his second stint as a Dodger. Hernández hit .262/.308/.423 over 185 trips to the plate.

After the season, Hernández underwent hernia surgery. That was a relatively minor procedure that isn’t expected to impact him in Spring Training. It’s possible the injury adversely impacted Hernández’s offensive production, but he has been a below-average hitter in four of the last five seasons. Since the start of 2019, he owns a .237/.305/.394 slash in more than 2100 plate appearances.

It remains to be seen if he’ll secure a big league contract for what’ll be his age-32 season. The market hasn’t looked kindly on a few rebound hitters this week. Amed Rosario and Gio Urshela settled for $1.5MM guarantees, while Tim Anderson landed a $5MM pact. Hernández has been a less productive hitter over the last couple seasons than anyone from that group. He has more defensive flexibility with the ability to play anywhere in the outfield, but the Sox’s efforts to make Hernández an everyday shortstop last year didn’t pan out.

NL West Notes: Dodgers, Hernandez, Pederson, Ray

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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 Top Unsigned Second Basemen

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about three weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. MLBTR already took a look at the catchers, first basemen, shortstops, third basemen, center fielders and starting pitchers still available and will now take a look at some notable second basemen.

  • Whit Merrifield: A late bloomer who also signed an extension with the Royals, Merrifield is now a free agent for the first time at the age of 35. He’s never been a huge power guy, nor does he take many walks, but he’s tough to strike out and has had some success with the contact approach. He’s also provided defensive versatility by playing the keystone and the outfield, along with some brief time at the infield corners. In each of the past three years, he’s hit either 10 or 11 home runs while walking less than 7% of the time, but his strikeout rate has never climbed above 17.1%. He’s stolen 82 bases over those three seasons while getting solid defensive grades at second and passable marks in the outfield corners. His .284/.330/.420 career batting line translated to a 101 wRC+.
  • Tim Anderson: From 2019 to 2022, Anderson hit .318/.347/.473 for the White Sox for a wRC+ of 123. But his batting line dropped all the way to .245/.286/.296 last year. That translated to a wRC+ of 60, the worst mark of any qualified hitter in the league. His glovework also seemed to decline, relative to his previous work. He’s a prime bounceback candidate, with an April knee injury perhaps helping to explain his poor results last year. The lack of available shortstops could lead to him getting a job at that position but he has expressed a willingness to move over to second going forward.
  • Amed Rosario: Mostly a shortstop in his career, Rosario got his first taste of second base in the latter stages of the 2023 campaign. His glovework received solid marks at the keystone, albeit in a small sample of 190 innings. But since he was never considered a strong defensive shortstop, he’s probably best suited to move across the bag regardless. Like Anderson, the weak shortstop market might get him a gig at that spot but he could be a solid option on the other side if that’s his best bet. He’s also a bounceback candidate, having hit .263/.305/.378 for a wRC+ of 88 last year but .282/.315/.412 for a 101 wRC+ in the four previous seasons.
  • Donovan Solano: Somewhat quietly, Solano has been an excellent utility piece over the past five years. Since the start of the 2019 season, he has hit .296/.355/.413 for a wRC+ of 112. His on-base percentage hasn’t been below .339 in any of those seasons and his wRC+ never below 100. He’s done that while playing all four infield positions, though he hasn’t played shortstop in the past two years. The majority of his time in the field has come at second base, where he’s received passable reviews for his glovework.
  • Adam Frazier: Somewhat similar to Merrifield, Frazier doesn’t walk much or run up huge power numbers, but he’s tough to strike out and does a few things well. His 13 homers in 2023 were a career high and he has career walk and strikeout rates of 7.4% and 13%, respectively. He’s hit .269/.331/.393 overall for a wRC+ of 98, though his 2023 output was slightly below that, except in the power department. DRS likes his glovework at the keystone but OAA doesn’t, though both like his work as an outfielder. He’s tallied double-digit steal totals in each of the past three seasons.

Honorable mentions: Elvis Andrus, Enrique Hernández, Tony Kemp, Kolten Wong

Angels Interested In Enrique Hernandez

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The Angels have some interest in utilityman Enrique Hernandez, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  The Halos are the first team publicly linked to Hernandez this winter, which is perhaps unsurprising since he is coming off double hernia surgery in November and a pair of underwhelming seasons at the plate.

Hernandez’s defensive versatility has always been more of a calling card than his bat, though he produced roughly league-average (99 wRC+) offense over his first six seasons and then hit .250/.337/.449 for a 109 wRC+ over 585 plate appearances for the Red Sox in 2021.  That was the first season of a two-year, $14MM deal for Hernandez with the Sox, and things seemed to be going swimmingly until an injury-plagued 2022 campaign.

Since Opening Day 2022, Hernandez has hit only .230/.290/.349 over 910 PA with the Red Sox and Dodgers.  Boston retained the veteran on another contract extension for the 2023 season, but more struggles led the Sox to swap Hernandez to the Dodgers prior to the trade deadline.  The move back to his old haunt at Dodger Stadium seemed to somewhat revitalize Hernandez, as he batted .262/.308/.423 over 185 in L.A. as opposed to his .222/.279/.320 slash line in 323 PA with the Red Sox prior to the deal.

It undoubtedly also helped that the Dodgers deployed Hernandez in his former super-utility role, rather than the regular shortstop duty Hernandez had to take on in Boston due to Trevor Story’s long stint on the injured list.  While Hernandez had chipped in at shortstop several times during his career, playing the position on a regular basis exposed his glovework, and public defensive metrics weren’t impressed by the results.

With the Angels, Rosenthal writes that Hernandez would be viewed largely as a third base backup option to Anthony Rendon.  Since Shohei Ohtani is gone and the designated hitter spot is now open, the Halos can rotate several veterans into DH duty for partial rest days, and Rendon is a natural candidate given his bevvy of injuries over the last few seasons.

It might not be a perfect platoon fit since Hernandez and Rendon are both right-handed hitters, and Hernandez has also played only 252 career innings at third base (with underwhelming defensive numbers).  However, Hernandez would likely be bounced all over the diamond in Anaheim, and Luis Rengifo is also on hand to see some time at the hot corner whenever Rendon is at DH or getting a full day off.

The Angels have mostly been focused on pitching additions this winter, and have yet to do anything really meaningful with their position player group despite a lot of interest in various names still on the free agent market.  Hernandez’s versatility could give L.A. depth at multiple positions, as his past experience as a center fielder would help address what seems to be a need for the Halos.  Infield depth is also an item on the to-do list, since Gio Urshela, Eduardo Escobar, and Mike Moustakas are all free agents and David Fletcher was traded to the Braves.

Enrique Hernández Undergoes Hernia Surgery

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Free agent infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernández underwent double hernia surgery on October 24, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The utility player is expected to resume baseball activities in three to four weeks, which should allow him to have a fairly normal offseason and Spring Training.

It’s unknown exactly when this issue cropped up but it’s possible it has been bothering him for a while. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic relayed today that Hernández had surgery on a hematoma in his psoas muscle last year. He made multiple trips to the injured list in 2022 with what was called a right hip flexor strain, though McCaffrey’s reporting from September of 2022 states that the issue “turned into an abdominal strain created by a hematoma in the psoas muscle, located between the lower part of his spine and his upper thigh. Hernández had blood drained through a needle in his spine and received a PRP shot around the All-Star break to accelerate the healing.”

Hernández, now 32, hit .237/.312/.432 for the Dodgers over 463 games from 2017 to 2020. That amounted to a wRC+ of 98, indicating he was just 2% below league average in that time, as he served as a versatile player that could be plugged into many places. He played every position except catcher in that stretch, even making an appearance on the mound.

He was able to parlay those results into a two-year, $14MM deal with the Red Sox going into 2021. He first season of the deal went very well, with Hernández getting his batting line up to .250/.337/.449 and his wRC+ to 109. Unfortunately, he dipped to a line of .222/.291/.338 and a 74 wRC+ in 2022 as the aforementioned IL stints limited him to 93 games.

Nonetheless, the Sox believed in him enough to give him a one-year extension as that season was winding down, giving him $10MM to stick around for 2023. That didn’t really work out, with Hernández hitting .222/.279/.320 for a 59 wRC+ with the Red Sox. He was flipped to the Dodgers at the deadline and had a respectable finish, slashing .262/.308/.423 for a 96 wRC+, though the combined line between the two clubs resulted in a wRC+ of 72 for the year.

If the surgery puts Hernández in position to have better results going forward, that could be a noteworthy development for the free agent market. There’s a general dearth of impact position players, particularly in the middle infield. Hernández was set to be one of the most accomplished players available in that category, alongside options like Amed Rosario, Whit Merrifield and Adam Frazier. If his two most recent seasons were dragged down by health issues, that will make his status in the months to come a development worth monitoring.

NL West Notes: Conforto, Manaea, Sewald, Dodgers

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Michael Conforto and Sean Manaea can each opt out of the final year of their contracts with the Giants, with Conforto owed $18MM in 2024 and Manaea $12.5MM.  Neither player has yet decided whether or not they’ll opt out, with Conforto telling NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic that “I think the good thing is it’ll be a hard decision, but I don’t think there’s a bad outcome really.  It will be tough, just because I’m very close with these guys and the uncertainty there could give you a little bit of anxiety, but again, there are a lot of conversations that have to happen before I’m even close to knowing what I want to do.”

Conforto hit .239/.334/.384 over 470 plate appearances in a season shortened by a hamstring injury, while Manaea posted a 4.44 ERA over 117 2/3 innings while working as a starter, long reliever, and bulk pitcher behind an opener.  Manaea might be the likelier of the two to find a larger deal on the open market, as Pavlovic notes that a multi-year agreement could be possible since teams are forever in need of pitching.  Conforto could remain with the Giants and hope for a better platform year before re-entering the market next winter, though he’d be rejoining an outfield/DH picture that already looks crowded, and the Giants might still be making more moves to the outfield to add both athleticism and hitting pop.

Here’s more from around the NL West…

  • The Diamondbacks’ acquisition of Paul Sewald has proven to be one of the trade deadline’s most impactful moves, as The Arizona Republic’s Theo Mackie writes that the Snakes’ once-unsteady bullpen has turned into a strength.  From August 19 until the end of the regular season, Arizona relievers combined for a 2.94 ERA, with Sewald himself delivering a 2.84 ERA over 12 2/3 innings in that stretch, closing out nine of 10 save chances.  As noted by Mackie and D’Backs GM Mike Hazen, establishing Sewald as the closer allowed the team to stick to a pretty set formula for their bullpen usage, and this routine has helped the Diamondbacks both reach the playoffs and advance to the NLCS.
  • The Dodgers’ roster is broken down by J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, with an eye towards whether or not several players could be back in Los Angeles in 2024.  Among the free agents, Hoornstra likes the chances of a reunion with Enrique Hernandez, as the utilityman’s multi-positional ability could help add depth if a DH-only player (i.e. Shohei Ohtani) were to join the roster.  On the other hand, David Peralta is basically limited to just left field and only against right-handed pitching, so it seems like L.A. might prefer internal options.  There also seems to be a chance the Dodgers will re-sign Jason Heyward, which could make Peralta further “redundant” since Heyward is also a left-handed hitter and a more versatile outfielder.
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