"He was one of the first Shohei Ohtani opened up to" - Dodgers analyst claims 2x All-Star's personality played a part in acquiring 3-year deal

Teoscar Hernandez was well received by the Los Angeles Dodgers community in his lone season at the club. He will have the chance to build on that, as he signed a three-year $66 million contract that will reunite him with teammates like Shohei Ohtani, who he has become close friends with.

Dodgers insider David Vassegh, on the MLB Network, said that Teoscar Hernandez was loved by everyone in the clubhouse. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman made it one of the Dodgers' priorities to lock him in the offseason.

Hernandez became one of the players to build the camaraderie between the different cultures that the Dodgers blended this year. The team was filled with English-speaking and Spanish-speaking players before they welcomed the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Hernandez and Ohtani also shared a close bond throughout the 2024 season.

"You saw the way the fans reacted to Teoscar Hernandez. He really invested in relationships in that clubhouse. He was a mentor to Andy Pages. He was kind of a bridge between the Latin speaking players, the English-speaking players and even the Japanese speaking players.

"He was one of the first that Otani really opened up to going back to media day in spring training. We saw that video go viral on photo day. So his personality is infectious," Vassegh said.

Teoscar Hernandez was welcomed by a personal message from Ohtani himself in January. As reported, the pair spoke to each other without the help of Ohtani's interpreter Will Ireton. Ohtani and Teoscar are said to have broken the language barrier as the season wore on, eventually culminating in the Dodgers' World Series title.

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Teoscar Hernandez rejected New York Mets before finalizing deal with Dodgers

The Dodgers and Teoscar Hernandez were in contact throughout the offseason, but it took some time for them to finalize an agreement.

Tim Healey of Newsday revealed that the New York Mets had also offered a two-year contract to Hernandez. But he turned that down and inked a three-year deal with the Dodgers.

Adding Hernandez to their outfield could have increased the Mets' depth after signing Juan Soto. The 32-year-old could have played as the DH, with the Mets looking to upgrade the production in that position. Starling Marte will remain as their obvious choice even though there have been rumors of him getting traded.

Hernandez's deal with the Dodgers includes $23 million signing bonus, $23 million deferred money and a fourth-year option worth $15 million.