Dodgers to sign one-year deal with veteran utilityman

The Dodgers are close to re-signing utility player Enrique Hernandez, per Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, though it seems contingent on the reported trade sending Manuel Margot to the Twins being completed. It will be a one-year deal for Hernandez, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. It appears the deal is completed, according to Hernandez himself on X.

As news started to leak out about Margot being traded to Minnesota, speculation turned to Hernandez 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, Hernandez 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, $14M 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 $10M 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 Hernandez 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 $12M this year in the form of a $10M salary and then a $2M buyout on a club option for 2025.

The Dodgers are set to have a regular outfield of James Outman, Teoscar Hernandez 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 Hernandez will join him, giving the club two guys who could platoon with Heyward while also adding some infield depth as well.

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 Hernandez 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 may end up saving money today depending on the final details of this deal and the Margot trade. Roster Resource currently pegs their CBT number at $304M, with this year’s fourth tier at $297M. The calculations will certainly be altered once the particulars of today’s transactions are revealed.