Teoscar Hernández tosses the ball back in the Dodgers’ court with qualifying offer decision

It was a no-brainer for the Dodgers to extend the qualifying offer to Teoscar Hernández by the deadline of November 4. It indicated that the organization was willing to keep him on for at least another season following an All-Star season in Los Angeles, but if he declined and signed with another team, the Dodgers would receive a Competitive Balance draft pick in 2025.

Acceptance never made sense to Hernández. He signed for $23.5 million in 2024 and had his finest season in years, so it’s understandable that he’d return to the free agent market seeking for a multiyear deal and more money.

Hernández’s desire to remain in Los Angeles may have provided a glimmer of optimism that he would accept the QO and return to the Dodgers without having to return to the negotiation table, where things may become complex.

However, a few hours before the decision deadline, Francys Romero claimed that Hernández had done the obvious (and sensible) thing by rejecting the QO, therefore releasing him to the free agency market.

Teoscar Hernández does the expected and rejects Dodgers’ qualifying offer

MLB Trade Rumors forecasts Hernández will receive less money in free agency than he did this year ($20 million), but he will get more years and hence better job stability, while The Athletic expects both three years and more money ($25 million per year). In any case, it’s natural that Hernández believes he’s earned some assurance from whatever club he eventually joins with that he’ll be there for more than one season.

All indications point to the Dodgers remaining the favorites to re-sign Hernández, and Brandon Gomes has stated that LA intends to resume negotiations with him. However, suitors have already emerged in the form of the Red Sox, Orioles, and Yankees, the first of which had their sights set on Hernández last season and even offered him several years before he signed with the Dodgers.

We’ve hammered this point home a lot, but the Dodgers shouldn’t overestimate Hernández’s desire to stay in Los Angeles and interpret it as an excuse to delay re-signing him. After the season he just had, the Dodgers should anticipate other teams to be aggressive in wooing him, and they can’t afford to be unsure whether or not to re-sign him.