Kiké Hernández calls out MLB owners after signing with Dodgers

After Kiké Hernández did the seemingly impossible and re-signed with the Dodgers, he quickly made an appearance on Foul Territory that was always bound to be juicy. Hernández is a known man of the people, the kind of player who isn't afraid to goof off and have fun playing the game, but also isn't afraid to speak his mind. He came in hot on Foul Territory to share previously unknown details of his free agency, including that the Yankees and Tigers were interested in him before he came back to LA.

In the clip where he talked about choosing the Dodgers over the Yankees, he opined at the top that "half of the leagues owners were bankrupt," and that was only the tip of the iceberg. He went on to say of owners and the calls he was getting from teams: "I’m not going to say the C-word, but I think the C-word needs a capital C."

The 'C-word' word in question is 'collusion,' which is unsurprisingly disallowed by MLB. However, Hernández said that teams were calling at similar times and were approaching him with similar salary figures, convincing him that "[owners are] all using the same [computer systems to project numbers and salaries] and I think they all have the same password" (subscription required).

Kiké Hernández stops just short of accusing MLB owners of collusion after re-signing with Dodgers

This year's free agent market has been dismal, with multiple insiders describing it as the worst they've ever seen (subscription required). The Dodgers were able to scoop up Teoscar Hernández on a one-year deal in part because of the crawling market, which motivated him to take a shorter, more lucrative deal (even though he was looking for more years and security). Things are only just starting to pick up for the game's biggest stars now, with Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger both finally coming to agreements with the Giants and Cubs after months of no news.

If this is the new normal (which we can all hope it isn't), then maybe the free agency deadline that was once again broached by commissioner Rob Manfred and has already been swiftly shot down by the Players Association might actually deserve a little more consideration and fine-tuning.