Top Landing Spots for Free Agent Teoscar Hernández

Baseball fans may be sitting on the edges of their seats awaiting the result of where Juan Soto will sign, but there are several other outfield names available in free agency that could make immense impacts wherever they land.

Teoscar Hernández might be the next best free agent outfielder after his incredible season with the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on the one-year “prove it” deal he signed with them last winter.

In 652 plate appearances in 2024, he hit a career-high 33 HR with 99 RBI while batting .272 with an .840 OPS and a 134 wRC+.

Now that he’s hit free agency for the second year in a row, things will almost certainly look completely different for the 32-year-old outfielder, as he projects to sign a far more lucrative deal than he did a year ago.

Here are some suitors that could pursue Hernández over the winter.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and I can’t think of a better way to describe the fit between Hernández and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was excellent with them in 2024, fitting right in amongst the modern-day “Murderers Row” of MVPs in Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

While it’s hard to pick out vulnerabilities in a reigning World Series championship team with as dominant a stature as the Dodgers, the corner outfield might be one of the very few weak spots this team has at the moment.

Andy Pages will likely patrol one corner after an average (100 wRC+) season in his rookie campaign, in which he showed some promise for Los Angeles to build on.

But now that Betts is set to move back to the infield in 2025, the other corner spot is up for grabs. The likes of struggling young talent James Outman (54 wRC+ in 2024) and declining veteran utility man Chris Taylor (74 wRC+ in 2024) are currently the top options for the Dodgers.

With the pieces Los Angeles still has at its disposal throughout the roster, the Dodgers could still be a good team without any moves of real substance this offseason. But retaining a player at Hernández’s level is a way to ensure they can stay on top of MLB for years to come.

Toronto Blue Jays

Sticking with the trends of reunions, the team with whom Hernández spent a majority of his major league career makes a lot of sense as a free agent fit, especially considering how fond he was of his time in Toronto by all accounts.

Outside of the Gold Glover Daulton Varsho patrolling center, Toronto has an immense amount of questions surrounding its outfield for a team that wants to contend again in 2025.

George Springer has continued to regress over in right field, and last year was somewhat of a left field-by-committee situation, with young guys such as Davis Schneider and Addison Barger spending time out there.

A return of Hernández would certainly give the Blue Jays the spark they need in the outfield, as their outfield unit struggled at the plate in 2024, sitting 26th in wRC+ at 85 and 28th in OPS at .645.

The Jays also used to be a team with power, but in 2024 they ranked just 20th overall in SLG at .389 and 26th in HR with 156, meaning Hernández’s 30+ HR pop would supply quite the boost in that department.

A lot of times last season it seemed as though Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the only consistent contributor atop that Blue Jays lineup. Hernández would do a lot to ensure that Vladdy gets some consistent support up there, especially with the uncertainty around what type of performance the Jays will get from Bo Bichette at the plate moving forward.

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles have reached a stage of their contention window in which they need to start getting more aggressive when it comes to acquiring new talent if they want to make the most of their promising young core while they’re all under team control.

Scuffling their way through the second half of the regular season and then getting swept at home against the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card series (while scoring just one run) showed this team’s need for offensive improvement.

The outfield is a place where the Orioles could look to address some of their offensive needs, especially with Anthony Santander now on the free agent market.

This is where Hernández comes in, as a corner outfield replacement for Santander. While he may not have had the 44 homers that Santander did in 2024, Hernández hits for a much higher average and provides a higher OPS, thanks to getting on base at a higher clip.

And given the trade rumors surrounding Cedric Mullins, along with Baltimore’s reluctance to really run with Heston Kjerstad last season, I’m inclined to believe the O’s would be open to adding a proven outfielder to the fold in 2025.

Hernández would be able to provide right-handed support to a couple of lefty bats, like Kjerstad in the corner outfield as well as Ryan O’Hearn in the DH role, so there would not be a shortage of at-bats for him.

At the end of the day, the Orioles possess a roster rife with immense talent and equally immense potential for the future, making them an intriguing contending option for a player like Hernández who’s fresh off a World Series victory.

New York Yankees

I want to preface this section by stating that the Yankees’ approach is all but surely to be going after Soto first.

However, they’re not the only team in pursuit of him, and their outfield needs don’t start and end with Soto. If they fall short of signing him, Hernández would be an excellent pivot.

Soto may have slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 HR and 109 RBI last season, but Hernández is no slouch after slashing .272/.339/.501 with 33 HR and 99 RBI in 2024.

If you pair that output with a full season of Just Baseball’s No. 7 ranked prospect Jasson Dominguez and his star potential, suddenly the Yankees outfield could remain in a very good place in 2025.

Hernández would also be a more consistent contributor near the top of the order to help bridge the gap between Judge and the rest of the lineup, so the MVP doesn’t have to carry this offense on his own moving forward.

San Francisco Giants

The Giants have been starving for a big-name free-agent decision to go their way after whiffing on Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa and Shohei Ohtani in recent offseasons.

While they may not be the same level of get as Judge or Ohtani, guys like Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee came aboard last offseason and may have given the Giants a bit more confidence. New president of baseball operations Buster Posey could look to get even more aggressive this winter.

Hernández would be a great addition to build on that bit of momentum, as he would address a lot of questions surrounding the Giants outfield and their offense in general.

Lee is likely to re-assume his role in center coming off the IL, and 2024 breakout sensation Heliot Ramos should be a fixture in a corner. Still, the Giants could stand to improve on the other corner options in Mike Yastrzemski (106 wRC+ in 2024) and Grant McCray (71 wRC+ in 2024).

And San Francisco’s offense lacks an undeniably proven bat. Matt Chapman is the unofficial anchor of the offense, but even he’s had his inconsistencies from season to season.

A signing like Hernández would stand to lift San Francisco’s offense out of the place of mediocrity it fell into last season ranking 19th in wRC+ at 101, 19th in OPS at .701 and 20th in AVG at .239.

Detroit Tigers

The gritty Tigers fought and clawed their way into the postseason with an incredible final few weeks of the 2024 campaign.

But despite their magical run, there are definitely some holes in this offense after a season in which they finished tied for 21st in team wRC+ at 95, 24th in OPS at .685 and tied for 23rd in AVG at .234.

In particular, this was a team starving for power, finishing 24th in MLB in homers with 162. Only Riley Greene exceeded the 20-HR threshold.

Adding Hernández would help solidify a solid outfield core of Greene and Parker Meadows and account for some possible regression from Matt Vierling, while simultaneously bridging the gap until Just Baseball’s No. 30 ranked prospect Max Clark is ready for the big leagues in a few seasons.

Hernández would also provide some right-handed protection in the DH role for the lefty Kerry Carpenter, who mashes RHP but has had much less success against southpaws in the early stages of his big league career.

Now is the time for Scott Harris and the front office to really invest in this team and bring some bigger-name talent to the Motor City, as the AL Central won’t be getting any easier with both Cleveland and Kansas City on the rise as well.