Blue Jays were "incredibly close" to bringing back a fan favourite

Teoscar Hernandez was at one point one of the best players GM Ross Atkins ever brought to Toronto. Acquired in a 2017 deadline day trade with the Houston Astros, the Blue Jays received a relatively unknown 24 year-old outfielder in exchange for an aging pitcher in Francisco Liriano.

Down the stretch, Liriano pitched 14 innings of unspectacular baseball for a Houston team that ended up as *World Series champions, while the Blue Jays liked what they saw in Hernandez's potential power.

He hit eight home runs in 88 at-bats for Toronto and it felt like the Blue Jays may have found a diamond in the rough. It took Teo another couple of seasons to finally put it all together, but when he did, it came together in a big way.

He hit 16 home runs with an OPS of .919 in 50 games, during the shortened COVID season. He hit 32 the following year, becoming an All-Star for the first time, and then hit 25 the year after, helping the Blue Jays get back to the post-season.

With a year left on his contract going into 2023, Atkins pulled off what might be considered one of his worst transactions, and sent Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Erik Swanson. Swanson had one really good year for Toronto, but it's hard to give up a hitter who has 30+ home run potential for a middle reliver.

Regardless, Teo's tenure in Toronto came to an abrupt end, after he was almost the playoff hero during the Wild Card series against Seattle when he hit two home runs during the second Wild Card game.

Hernandez went from Seattle to LA where he has become one of the premier power hitting outfielders in the game, but a recent report from Shi Davedi indicates there was almost a reunion between the Blue Jays and Hernandez this past offseason.

“We actually came really close to a reunion so I can come back to Toronto,” said Hernandez. “They were trying to do a couple of things, I'm not going to say what, but they were trying to do a couple things first. And they said if this worked out, we can get together, we can sit down and talk about a contract. So, yes, it was really close.”

Davedi hinted that based on the timeline of those discussions, along with his friendship with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Hernandez was likely hoping for Vladdy to get his long-term deal before Hernandez made his own longer-term commitments. Despite the Blue Jays and Hernandez never getting a chance to put pen to paper, Teoscar says he was a big advocate for Vladdy to stay in Toronto, even as the negotiations dragged on.

“If you feel good over there, you have your whole life there, your family, you have everything in that city and that country, so try to make it work,” Hernandez said. “I've now been on four different teams. It is not the same as growing up in one organization,” Hernandez continued. “I don't think about Toronto without Vladdy. He's like an iconic person there."

"He's obviously from Canada, he's the right guy to be a Blue Jay for life. It's great. I'm happy for him, for the team, for the city, the fans. The fans love Vladdy, so they deserve to have in him there for all his career. It was great. So happy for him.”

It's really too bad that the Blue Jays dragged things out with Vladdy as one of the repercussion is that they also lost out on Hernandez. While Teoscar isn't a true "home grown" player for the Blue Jays organization, there is something special about a player putting it all together for a team that gives them a chance earlier in their career.

Hernandez is hitting .254/.289/.464 with 18 home runs and a 107 OPS+ and he would have been a welcomed addition to the offence especially in the early part of the season. He was slashing .315/.333/.600 with nine home runs through his first 33 games. The Blue Jays were under .500 through their first 33 games and were slashing .238/.310/.353 with just 23 home runs as a team.

While this season is working out so far for Toronto Blue Jays, a reunion with Hernandez might have been the one move that could have truly separated the Blue Jays from the pack.