Teoscar Hernández might've stalled his own free agency with commitment to Dodgers

After Teoscar Hernández rejected the Dodgers' qualifying offer following one massive season in LA, he officially became the second-best outfielder on the free agent market behind only Juan Soto. It wasn't surprising that the Dodgers put the QO out there, nor was it surprising that Hernández turned it down, but the question soon became how much Hernández would re-sign with the Dodgers for.

Other teams didn't really even factor into the equation. Hernández had gone on record saying that his top priority was to stay a Dodger, and the team seemed equally as invested in getting him back. However, as things dragged out for weeks and reports suggested a gap in negotiations, it became less of a sure thing that he'd end up back in LA. Other suitors entered the picture — the Red Sox, Blue Jays, and even the Yankees.

Of course, Hernández did end up coming back on Jan. 3, for three years and $66 million, with a $15 million club option for a fourth year, but it's still surprising that other teams didn't seem to be more aggressive as the Dodgers seemed to drag their feet.

During an appearance on the "Foul Territory" podcast, Hernández admitted he was surprised his phone wasn't completely ringing off the hook during his free agency.

Teoscar Hernández admits his free agency moved slowly before re-signing with Dodgers

He said that about five teams had reached out before he eventually re-signed, but none of them seemed sold on him, were stalling, or were offering deals that he didn't find competitive.

And that definitely might be Hernández's own fault. If he'd gone the Soto route — played it cool when he became a free agent and said that he would be willing to talk to any team — it's likely that more (especially those who weren't able to afford Soto) would've clamored. Instead, Hernández broadcasted that he was going to put a new offer for the Dodgers in a different bucket from all the rest.

That's probably not what teams want to hear. It's fair that some of them probably wanted to gauge how serious the Dodgers actually were about Hernández and wanted to avoid offering him a deal that would just get turned down if LA countered with something not even better but even just satisfactory for him.

Still, it all worked out in the end. Hernández ended up exactly where everyone expected him to and exactly where he wanted to.