The Red Sox don’t exactly need another outfielder on paper, but Teoscar Hernandez is the kind of name that can change the conversation if Boston decides to chase offense over fit.
Hernandez, who has been floated as a trade possibility from the Los Angeles Dodgers, would give the Red Sox another bat that can also handle designated hitter duties. That matters because Boston already has multiple outfielders and may need to move one or two of them this offseason anyway. Still, if the front office is aiming to be one of the better teams in baseball next season, the appeal may come down to the hitter more than the position.
There’s no pretending Hernandez is a clean fit across the board. He’s 34, and his defense has long been part of the conversation.
His power production has also dipped this year, with 16 home runs, his fewest since 2017, when he appeared in just 26 games. Even so, that number comes with a caveat: in every full season, Hernandez has topped 16 homers, and even in 2020, when he played 50 games, he still finished with 16.
The contract is where things really get interesting. Hernandez is on a three-year, $66 million deal with team/vesting options in 2028 and 2029, and any deal would likely hinge on how much of that money the Dodgers are willing to absorb. A recent trade idea had Boston taking on the remaining contract, but that’s the kind of detail that would decide whether this is worth pursuing or not.
“The last big Dodgers-Red Sox trade was a doozy: Dustin May to Boston in exchange for two top prospects at the 2025 deadline. That might lead fans to believe the Dodgers could pull off another fleece, but the key difference between the May trade and a hypothetical Hernández one is leverage.
“The scramble at the trade deadline is different than the offseason, and the Red Sox's pitching staff was in dire straits at the time. In this case, it's the Dodgers who are in more of a position of need, and who will be asking another team to potentially take on over $20 million to clear space for a top prospect,” Katrina Stebbins wrote.
For Boston, the decision seems pretty straightforward: if the Dodgers are eating part of the deal, Hernandez becomes a reasonable swing for a lineup looking for more punch. If Los Angeles wants a big return and still expects someone else to carry the contract, the Red Sox should walk away.
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