Blue Jays forced to watch as Teoscar Hernandez picks NL West contender over them

The Blue Jays have had a long offseason of missing out on some of the top free agents on the market. It started off by losing the race on Juan Soto, which might be a positive for the organization, then they missed out on Max Fried, and have now let another star sign elsewhere.

This time it is Teoscar Hernandez, who just signed a three year deal worth $66 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bringing home the former Blue Jay would have been perfect as they currently have a hole in the outfield.

Blue Jays miss out on Teoscar Hernandez, adding on as another star they failed to sign

Hernandez is 32 years old and was just signed to a very realistic contract for the Blue Jays to afford. It was reported that he did not want any deffered money, which ended up the opposite as Jeff Passan reported that there is more than $23 million in deffered money. Toronto could have easily given the same contract without deffered money, but they whiff once again.

Last season, Hernandez belted 33 home runs, 32 doubles, and two triples to generate a slugging percentage of .501. That paired with an on-base percentage of .339 to create an OPS of .840. Additionally, his wRC+ was 34 points above league average at 134, along with a poor strikeout percentage of 28.8%.

Adding Hernandez would have been a hugantic boost to the Blue Jays lineup, but they now have to look elsewhere to upgrade their offense. Maybe now they could target former rival switch hitting slugger Anthony Santander, who crushed 44 home runs and put up a 129 wRC+ in 2025.

Time will tell who the Blue Jays bounce to, but they are running out of options. Even if they do not upgrade their outfield, other guys like Alex Bregman must be at the top of their list.