MLB fans up in arms over Dodgers deferring more money in Teoscar Hernández deal

On Sunday night, the Dodgers added to their superteam by signing outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a one-year, $23.5 million deal. He'll presumably replace Chris Taylor in left field, adding a right-handed bat that crushes against lefties, some speed on the base paths, and a well above-average arm in the outfield.

He's just the latest addition in the Dodgers' quest for complete dominance this offseason, and with it the team is also establishing a clear affinity for something other than All-Star free agents: deferred money.

A total of $8.5 million of Hernández's money will be deferred -- payable from 2030 to 2039 -- and stacks them up with the money Shohei Ohtani will be owed when his 10-year tenure with the team is up, between 2034 and 2043. The Dodgers are gaming the system, adding more and more without needing to be all that concerned about busting through the luxury tax ceiling and being taxed to high heaven for their $1 billion+ in spending this offseason.

MLB fans up in arms over Dodgers deferring more money in Teoscar Hernandez deal

Unsurprisingly, MLB fans are enraged about Hernández's deferrals in the wake of Ohtani's unprecedented $680 million in delayed payments. Let us remind those fans: deferrals aren't new. Bobby Bonilla, Manny Ramirez, and Ken Griffey Jr. are still getting paid by their old organizations, and they're all over 50 at this point (Bonilla is 60). You can't blame non-Dodgers fans for being sore that their clubs aren't having the kind of offseason LA is having, but you can enjoy drinking some tears while we sit back and watch the Dodgers dominate this upcoming campaign.

There was also, of course, some crying over the deal taking place at all, especially from Red Sox fans, who now have to cope with losing out on yet another big free agent because they weren't willing to spend the money. Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, the Red Sox, who were at one point thought to be co-frontrunners with the Dodgers in the Hernández chase, just weren't offering competitive deals for him, so their unwillingness to spend bit them in the rear again.

The Dodgers are better off for having Hernández, who is expected to boost the lineup lower down in the order, sandwiched between Max Muncy batting fifth and James Outman batting seventh. He has a career .887 OPS against left-handed pitchers as well as elite hard-hit rates. Let fans cry about the deferred money; the Dodgers have been in win-now mode ever since they were eliminated from the playoffs last year, and nothing's going to stop them now.