The Los Angeles Dodgers brought back many key names this past offseason — along with new additions to fortify the team — as the defending champions seemed poised to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in a quarter-century.
Many fans remember anxiously waiting for outfielder Teoscar Hernández to re-sign with LA after a career-best season in home runs and WAR in what was one of his best offensive outputs of his career. The two-time All-Star recently revealed to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet how close he was to going back to the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of the 2025 campaign.
“We actually came really close to a reunion so I can come back to Toronto,” Hernández said. “They were trying to do a couple of things, I’m not going to say what, but they were trying to do a couple things first. And they said if this worked out, we can get together, we can sit down and talk about a contract. So, yes, it was really close.”
Hernández spent parts of six seasons with the Blue Jays after being traded from the Houston Astros at the 2017 trade deadline. During his tenure in Canada, the outfielder hit .263/.320/.503 with an OPS of .823.
He earned his first All-Star nod and a pair of Silver Slugger awards during his time in Toronto, while finishing 11th and 19th in MVP voting during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, respectively.
Hernández was ranked sixth among qualified outfielders during his time with Toronto in terms of average exit velocity (92 mph) and eighth in slugging percentage (.506).
Hernández also touched on what it meant to be a champion and how special his time in LA has been thus far, leading to the 2025 quest for another ring.
“Especially because you’re going through so many big moments,” Hernández said. “It gives you confidence, energy and everything you need to focus on trying to perform the best way you can just to help the team. Winning a championship is one of the best things for any athlete.
“I enjoyed it — you know me, I enjoy this game, especially when it matters the most — we were hungry and we came back this year trying to make it back to the World Series.”
