Teoscar Hernández is headed back to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The free agent outfielder has agreed with the reigning World Series champions on a $66 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press late Friday night.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a successful physical.
After initially looking for a three-year contract that never materialized in free agency last offseason, Hernández and his representatives turned their focus to getting the best short-term deal from the best team interested. That led to a $23.5 million, one-year deal with the Dodgers, where he joined a loaded lineup that included Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
Hernández wanted to play deep into October, and did, becoming a a World Series champion during an All-Star season when he was the Home Run Derby champion and won his third career Silver Slugger, which got him a $1 million bonus.
The Dominican outfielder had a huge impact as the Dodgers won their second World Series title in five seasons. He hit .272 with a career-high 33 homers and 99 RBIs in 154 regular-season games.
Hernández had made it clear he wanted to stay in Los Angeles, saying that was his priority. He got emotional when thanking fans during the World Series celebration at Dodger Stadium after the club’s championship parade.
“I play this game to win,” he told the fans that day. “And the Dodgers gave me the opportunity to come here so I could help this organization, this team, these people, this city, win a championship. You guys made this dream come true. Thank you for making me a world champion.”
Now they will get to try to do it again, with Hernández likely switching from left field to right field, his best defensive position. There are plans for Betts to move back into the infield next season.
Hernández turned 32 during the playoffs, when he hit .250 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 16 postseason games. He struggled during the six-game National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, going 2 for 21 with one RBI. That was after he hit .333 with seven RBIs in a five-game Division Series against San Diego, and before hitting .350 in the World Series against the Yankees — including a two-run double in the fifth inning of Game 5 for a 5-all tie before the Dodgers clinched the title with a 7-6 victory.
Hernández has a .263 career batting average with 192 homers, 572 RBIs and 65 outfield assists for Toronto (2016-22), Seattle (2023) and the Dodgers. His first All-Star season came with the Blue Jays in 2021, when he hit 32 homers while setting career highs with his .296 average and 116 RBIs.
His 2024 deal with Los Angeles included $8.5 million in deferred money that will be paid over 10 equal installments each July 1 from 2030-39.
___
AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
