Teoscar Hernández's re-signing hold up proves he was always prioritizing Dodgers

At a certain point during the nearly two-month wait for Teoscar Hernández to re-sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the urge to grab the front office by their collective shoulders, shake, and demand an explanation for the delay was strong throughout the fandom.

Although he'd turned down the qualifying offer, just like everyone expected him to, it was hard to fathom why things were dragging out when the universal belief was that he would return to LA.

A few days after Christmas, he and the team finally settled on three years and $66 million, with an option for a fourth, along with a $15 million signing bonus. The $22 million AAV fell on the lowest end of Hernández's reported asking range and is $1.5 million lower than what he got in 2024, so maybe it was that they were haggling about money — even though that would've been ridiculous, given how much money everyone knows the Dodgers have.

However, Hernández set the record straight in an interview with Grandes en los Deportes. He said, "It was more about how the contract was going to be structured... I've always said that money isn't the most important thing for me, and I was just waiting for them to structure it."

Teoscar Hernández confirms stall in Dodgers re-signing talks wasn't about money

Hernández made his desire to stay in LA clear, so it stands to reason that he'd be more concerned about job security than money. He'll be going into his age 32 season in 2025, so now there's a chance that he could retire as a Dodger, especially if his club option is exercised for 2028.

The Mets reportedly offered Hernández two years before he re-signed, so it seems like his floor was always going to be three years. Although some Dodgers fans probably would've given Hernández anything he wanted, it makes sense that the front office would hesitate a bit on a player on the other end of 30.

There have been exceptions to the rule on the steep decline after that mark — former Dodgers Joc Pederson, Justin Turner, and JD Martinez have been among them, and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts are currently among them — but committing to Hernández that long also meant potentially blocking a path forward for some of LA's top prospects.

Still, it's clear that he wasn't just going to go to the team that offered him the biggest wad of cash. The Dodgers got to pay his minimum and Hernández got some assurance about where he'd stay for the forseeable future, so it was a win-win in the end.