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The Teoscar Hernández blunder: How the Blue Jays could right a wrong this off-season

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As we Toronto Blue Jays fans sit here and watch the Championship Series, you have to ask: “How did the Blue Jays bungle it this hard?”

Depending on how you view the front office, this could be referring to one of many things, but the topic of this article is Teoscar Hernández. On Sunday, he and the Los Angeles Dodgers took a 1-0 series lead over the New York Mets after an emphatic 9-0 victory.

Hernández himself was acquired by the Blue Jays before the 2017 trade deadline, as the Blue Jays sent Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros for him and Nori Aoki. It took a while for Hernández to become a consistent producer in the Blue Jays lineup. He was even demoted during the 2019 season.

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However, once he returned from his stint with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, he became the player we know and love today. From June 5, 2019, until the end of his Blue Jays career, Hernández slashed .277/.332/.525 with 96 home runs in 1660 plate appearances for a 131 wRC+. Was his 28.6 K% on the high side? Yes. Was his defence concerning at times? Yes. However, his bat and power more than made up for those pitfalls.

On November 16, 2022, the Blue Jays traded Hernández to the team that defeated them in the Wild Card Series, the Seattle Mariners. It may be a hot take, but this was a solid trade for the Blue Jays, as they received Erik Swanson and Adam Macko in exchange for a player set to become a free agent after the 2023 season.

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Macko is one of the Blue Jays’ top pitching prospects and is on the 40-man roster, meaning he could find his way on the 2025 Blue Jays roster at some point. Swanson had a great 2023 season but had a poor performance to start the 2024 season before finally settling in after the team recalled him in July.

Moreover, Hernández’s tenure as a Mariner wasn’t great in all honesty. In 2023, the outfielder slashed .258/.305/.435 with 26 home runs in 678 plate appearances, along with a 31.1 K% and a 5.6 BB%. The walk rate was the worst of his career, while the strikeout rate was his highest since the 2019 season.

Fast forward to the end of the 2023 season, and the Blue Jays were serious contenders to land the best player in the history of the game, Shohei Ohtani. He eventually landed in Los Angeles with the Dodgers, as did Hernández.

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There have been quite a few questionable decisions made by the current regime of the Blue Jays, but not having a pivot after losing out on Ohtani is one of the front office’s biggest blunders. While they were interested in Hernández, they didn’t want to give him the $20.43 million deal he eventually got from the Dodgers.

Toronto’s moves last off-season included re-signing Kevin Kiermaier and Chad Green, while bringing in Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Justin Turner, and Yariel Rodríguez. While four of five of those editions were good on their own, it was clear the team needed a big bat in the lineup and in turn, the Jays finished with a 74-88 record, seventh-worst in the league.

On the other hand, Hernández slashed .272/.339/.501 with a career-high 33 home runs in 652 regular season plate appearances, giving him a 134 wRC+ and a 3.5 fWAR. In the postseason, the 31-year-old is slashing .286/.400/.571 with two home runs in 25 plate appearances while the Blue Jays sit on the couch, still in search of their first postseason win since 2016.

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This off-season, the Blue Jays will have a chance to right their wrong and re-sign Hernández, as he’s once again set to become a free agent. Now, he’ll receive a significant payday with the loss of a second-round pick likely attached. However, Hernández remains a fan favourite and has great chemistry on the team. Equally important is the fact that he’ll bring some much-needed power to the lineup. 

It’s time to bring him back.

As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.