Has Teoscar Hernandez priced himself out of Dodgers' plans in 2025?

It's no secret that Teoscar Hernandez has been a key to success for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024. Will his success keep him from returning in 2025?

Hernandez has said that he wants to stay with the Dodgers, but what he could command on the open market in the offseason may make that a difficult task. 

After signing a one-year, $23.5 million deal with the Dodgers ($15 million of which he received this season and $8.5 million he will receive in 10 installments between 2030-39), Hernandez has put together a solid year, slashing .272/.379/.501 in 154 regular-season games. Those 154 games were the most by any Dodgers player outside of Shohei Ohtani's 159 games as the team's designated hitter, proving just how durable Hernandez was in a season where injuries were problematic in Los Angeles.

Throw in 99 RBI and a career-high 33 home runs (both numbers second on the Dodgers only to Ohtani) along with an All-Star Game appearance and Home Run Derby title and it's clear to see why Hernandez will likely not only be pursued by the Dodgers, but multiple other clubs as well.

Those pursuits are expected to push the price tag up significantly for Hernandez in 2024 and beyond. His salary jumped from $14 million with the Seattle Mariners in 2023 to this year's $23.5 million, and it is projected that Hernandez could get a deal in the neighborhood of three years and $72 million this offseason.

Would the Dodgers be willing to commit to $24 million per season for Hernandez? They already have more than $176 million on the books for 2025, per Spotrac, and that's before accounting for Clayton Kershaw's expected return. That would make Hernandez the Dodger with the fourth-highest salary (behind Tyler Glasnow, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman) next season.

The Dodgers would not only have to commit to Hernandez in terms of salary, but also in terms of playing time as well. With Ohtani expected to be the team's designated hitter again next season on days he won't pitch, Hernandez would likely be locked into the left field slot for the length of his contract. That would keep young players like Andy Pages (who is projected to develop into a corner outfielder) and Dalton Rushing (a catching prospect who transitioned primarily to left field after his promotion to Triple-A) from potentially making a bigger impact at the MLB level.

While Hernandez has played a pivotal role for the Dodgers this season, he has told reporters that there have been no talks of an extension. 

It will have to wait until the season is over, and offseason begins in which both Hernandez and the Dodgers will have tough decisions to make about their future paths and if they will converge again.