Red Sox Trade Kike Hernandez To Dodgers
It turns out the reunion rumors were very true. Kike Hernandez is going back to Los Angeles. The Boston Red Sox have traded Kike to the Dodgers in a move that we somehow saw coming.
Ken Rosenthal of that trash bag news organization that is The Athletic was the first to report the news:
Dodgers getting Kiké Hernandez, sources tell me and @FabianArdaya.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 25, 2023
Hernandez, 31, has around $3.65 million remaining on his 2023 salary and is a pending free agent this winter. Across 323 plate appearances, Kike is posting a batting line of .222/.279/.320. He’s been much better against lefties slashing .260/.314/.338 in 2023 but sports a career mark of .259/.346/.465 against southpaws.
For LA, this is a right-handed bat that can play all over the diamond. Kike is a much better defender in the outfield and could steal some playing time away from Jason Heyward and David Peralta when a lefty is on the mound.
The return probably won’t be much given the fact that Boston thought about DFA’ing Hernandez this year. It was already a packed infield carrying Christian Arroyo, Pablo Reyes, Yu Chang, and whenever Trevor Story returns from his elbow injury. That’s not even including the infield depth the Red Sox have in the minors which is some of the best in baseball.
UPDATE:
We finally have the full trade package. Two fringe relievers will head to Boston. Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman are being sent to the Red Sox. Both are AAA arms that could come up to the big league team eventually if Boston needs more relief help. Not the best return but time will tell if these arms prove useful.
