Free agent utilityman Enrique Hernández is expected to sign within the next two to three days, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. 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 $1.5M guarantees, while Tim Anderson landed a $5M 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.
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