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Dodgers signing former rival outfielder comes with amazing Teoscar Hernández update

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Dodgers Way

St. Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants / Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/GettyImages

The Los Angeles Dodgers are more than likely out of the Juan Soto chase, but their latest signing -- announced Sunday night -- might pair nicely with the return of a fan favorite.

According to MLB's Mark Feinsand, corroborated by Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers have signed Michael Conforto, formerly of the Mets and most recently of the San Francisco Giants, a team he joined with an eye on bouncing back.

Conforto, a slugging lefty, drilled 20 homers with a 116 OPS+ last season, and has been a league-average bat at worst during his career, when healthy.

And, given Mookie Betts' impending move to the infield, the Dodgers still have outfield slots to hand out. According to Rosenthal, this will not rule them out of former Dodger Teoscar Hernández's market, either. Hernández, a right-handed bat, could still pair nicely in the heart of LA's ridiculous order.

Dodgers sign Michael Conforto, can't be ruled out on Teoscar Hernández pursuit

Hernández represents a clear backup plan for both the Yankees and Red Sox, in the event they do not come to terms with Juan Soto as Steve Cohen flexes his wallet and holds it ever higher. According to Boston insider Pete Abraham, Hernández would prefer to return to the Dodgers, but remains intrigued by Alex Cora and Fenway Park, in much the same way he was last winter when LA swayed him away in the first place.

The Dodgers now have some leverage in this department, too; the 31-year-old Conforto missed the 2022 season, due to injury, but managed to scrape together 470 and 488 plate appearances the past two seasons by the Bay. He certainly put up a larger sample size than most anticipated when the deal was officially signed.

It's a one-year, $17 million deal for Conforto in Los Angeles, and after strengthening their outfield and placing Blake Snell atop their rotation (top three? five?), the Dodgers surely have more work to do. After all, they hustle harder than arguably any other MLB club in pursuit of repeated championships.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard and Dodgers Way for 4 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast twice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for eight years. Previously, he was a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.