{"id":334221,"date":"2025-12-07T02:19:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T02:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334221\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T02:19:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T02:19:07","slug":"dodgers-enrique-hernandez-open-to-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/334221\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers, Enrique Hern\u00e1ndez Open To Reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dodgers have already retained one clubhouse favorite this offseason, re-signing<\/a> infielder Miguel Rojas<\/a> to a one-year deal. Utilityman Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> could be next on the list. Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported<\/a> the two sides are interested in a reunion. Hern\u00e1ndez is currently recovering from elbow surgery<\/a> on his non-throwing arm.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez has spent nine of his 12 big-league seasons with the Dodgers. He re-upped with the team on a one-year, $6.5MM deal this past offseason. Hern\u00e1ndez has filled a versatile role across multiple stints in LA and has three World Series rings with the club (2020, 2024, 2025).<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old is coming off one of his worst offensive seasons, though the elbow issue could\u2019ve played a factor. Hern\u00e1ndez hit just .203 across 93 games, while missing most of July and August with the injury. The veteran started every playoff game for the Dodgers, managing a .250 batting average, albeit with an elevated strikeout rate. Hern\u00e1ndez accounted for LA\u2019s only run in Game 5 of the World Series when he homered off of Trey Yesavage<\/a>. He was also in left field for Andy Pages<\/a>\u2019 season-saving catch in Game 7.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s ability to handle several defensive positions is likely the main factor in a return to LA. The defending champs don\u2019t have many major holes, but the roster has some soft spots that could be patched by Hern\u00e1ndez. The Dodgers currently have Tommy Edman<\/a> penciled in at center field, though he struggled with injuries and poor performance last season. Some combination of Hyeseong Kim<\/a> and Alex Freeland<\/a> will likely handle second base, but neither has much MLB experience. There\u2019s room for Hern\u00e1ndez to carve out a part-time gig again, even if it\u2019s just as a platoon bat spelling Kim and Max Muncy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RosterResource<\/a> has LA\u2019s payroll at $337MM for next season. While that\u2019s a massive number, it\u2019s a significant dropoff from last season\u2019s mark, which neared $400MM. The potential commitment to Hern\u00e1ndez would likely be similar to the pact he got last offseason. The Dodgers also have luxury tax fees to consider, but Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s deal won\u2019t make much of a dent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dodgers have already retained one clubhouse favorite this offseason, re-signing infielder Miguel Rojas to a one-year deal.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[168855,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-334221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-enrique-hernandez","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}