Dodgers finalize $23.5M deal with Teoscar Hernández and hire former major leaguer Raúl Ibañez

Updated Jan. 12, 2024 8:44 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teoscar Hernández finalized a $23.5 million, one-year contract with the Dodgers on Friday, the latest deal by big-spending Los Angeles that includes deferred money.

The outfielder agreed to defer $8.5 million that will be paid in 10 equal installments each July 1 from 2030-39.

He also has provisions for large bonuses: Hernández would get $3 million if he finishes among the top five in MVP voting, $2 million if he is sixth through 10th and $500,000 if he is 11th through 15th. He would get $1 million for his third Silver Slugger Award.

Los Angeles has been baseball’s top spender this offseason, committing $1,235,687,500 to two-way star Shohei Ohtani, pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and Hernández.

Ohtani’s record $700 million, 10-year contract includes $680 million in deferred payments. The Dodgers owe deferred payments to Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Hernández totaling $865.5 million from 2033-44.

An All-Star in 2021, the 31-year-old Hernández hit .258 with 26 homers and 93 RBIs last year in his only season with Seattle, which acquired him from Toronto in a November 2022 trade. He had 12 assists, tied for third in the major leagues among outfielders.

Hernández hit .296 with 32 homers and 112 RBIs in 2021, making his only All-Star roster. He has a .261 career average with 159 homers, 473 RBIs and 58 outfield assists for the Blue Jays (2016-22) and Mariners.

He joins a powerful batting order projected to include Betts, Ohtani, Freeman, Will Smith, Max Muncy and Jason Heyward.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers also hired former All-Star outfielder Raúl Ibañez as vice president of baseball development and special projects, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move.

It will be Ibañez's second stint with the Dodgers. He was a special assistant with the team from 2016-21.

The 51-year-old had been working for MLB as senior vice president of on-field operations for the last three years.

Ibañez spent 19 years in the majors with Seattle, Kansas City, Philadelphia, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels. The left fielder helped the Phillies reach the 2009 World Series.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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