ESPN Insider Reveals Why Dodgers Have to Bring Back Kiké Hernandez
![Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Enrique Hernandez (8) throws to the infield during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Enrique Hernandez (8) throws to the infield during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2718,h_1528,x_0,y_96/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_dodgers/01jjm63d984have8qf7t.jpg)
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been extremely busy this offseason but there is one player who they have yet to re-sign.
Utility man Kiké Hernández remains a free agent and according to an ESPN insider, the Dodgers need to bring him back.
Buster Olney told Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation that re-signing Hernández is “incredibly important.”
“The season is so long. I think that if you’re a fan and you look at the players and you tune into one game and you imagine them having the same intensity that you did when you played little league, it’s not that way. This is their daily job and they go through ups and downs like the rest of us do where some days you’re really into it and some days you’re not really into it," Olney said.
"And so to have personalities that bring energy to the park like Kiké, that’s incredibly important.”
“I think you absolutely have to pick the right personalities for those spots at the end of your roster.”
If the Dodgers want to bring Hernández back, they'll need to clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster.
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While Hernández has never been the team’s top player, he has been vital to the Dodgers' success. He played key roles on the 2020 and 2024 squads, which captured World Series titles.
“From the moment I got to L.A., it was a humbling experience for me to have a fanbase that embraces me and loves me the way that they do,” Hernández said via The Shop. “The support. I’m a guy that I’m probably a better player than what the back of my card says numbers-wise. I bring more to the table than my stats, and the way that they love me, you’d think that I am the best player on the field each and every day I step on a baseball field.”
Hernández was drafted by the Houston Astros in the sixth round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of the American Military Academy in Puerto Rico.
However, after reaching the majors in 2014, he was traded to the Miami Marlins. Following that season, the Marlins dealt him to the Dodgers, where he would spend the next six years.
Hernández signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent after the 2020 season, and in 2023, he was traded back to the Dodgers. Despite interest from the New York Yankees, he re-signed with Los Angeles for the 2024 season, and was crucial in the team's World Series run.