Most agents representing MLB players don’t publicly gloat. But most agents don’t take the heat from their colleagues that Rafa Nieves apparently did when he negotiated a one-year, $23.5-million deal for Teoscar Hernández with the Dodgers last offseason.
Nieves, who has accumulated a star-studded clientele of primarily Latino players, answered his critics with a fact-packed X post that he believes exonerates his representation of the Dodgers left fielder: “9 months ago every agent criticized me and Teo for taking a 1-year deal. The truth is, the market was soft for everyone, and he was coming off a down year while playing in a very pitcher friendly environment.
“We were looking for a 3-year deal, and while reading the market and realizing that deal might not exist, I asked him what his priority was and he said he wanted to win and play deep into October, so we pivoted and focused on getting the best short term deal on the best team interested.”
Here we are, deep into October, and Hernández and the Dodgers are still playing after he established career highs in home runs (33), total bases (295) and wins above replacement (4.3). He was an All-Star and Home Run Derby champion. And he likely set a record for most sunflower seeds tossed on teammates after home runs.
“Everybody was saying it was a bad deal because it was a one-year deal, but for me what is important is to get better and win. I’m glad that I’m here,” Hernández told the Athletic.
Read more: Shell yeah: Teoscar Hernández is the Dodgers’ always-smiling, seed-throwing motivator
His .272/.339/.501 slash line is a significant improvement from the ho-hum .258/.305/.435 line he posted with the Mariners last season. Hernández provided the Dodgers with a consistent power bat behind the big three of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all season, driving in 99 runs.
His production hasn’t slowed in the playoffs — he’s added two homers and seven runs batted in. Hernández was already thinking about the postseason when asked in June about coming through under pressure.
“You feel the adrenaline, and you obviously get up for those kinds of games, when you play in the big moments, the big situations,” Hernández told The Times. “But I try to be the same guy, to be myself, and to not put pressure on myself. I’m not trying to do too much, because that’s when everything starts to go the opposite way that you want it to go.”
Entering free agency for the first time last offseason, Hernández was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to get a four-year, $80-million offer. Outfielders with similar resumes such as Marcell Ozuna, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos had landed four- to five-year deals worth $64 million, $79 million and $100 million, respectively.
Read more: Teoscar Hernández could have signed with the Red Sox. Here’s why he chose the Dodgers
But the market stalled out — see Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Cody Bellinger and Jordan Montgomery — and Hernández was forced to choose between a two-year, $28-million offer from the Boston Red Sox and the Dodgers’ one-year pact, which paid only $15 million in 2024 with the remaining $8.5 million issued in 10 installments between 2030-39.
Presumably, Hernández will be in a stronger position when he reenters the free-agent market in November. He told reporters that he has not had in-season discussions with the Dodgers regarding an extension, but that he isn’t sweating it.
Neither is Nieves, if the tone of his social media post is an indication. After checking off boxes next to his client’s statistical accomplishments, Nieves wrote: “He will win his 3rd Silver Slugger, and will probably get some MVP votes. On top of that, he made more money this year than he would have made on that 3-year deal and now he will go back out on the market after a career year.
“Who’s laughing now?”
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Hernández!
“I’m always laughing. I rarely get mad,” he told The Times. “You can go around and ask people, ‘Have you ever seen Teo mad?’ I don’t think they’re gonna say yes. Everybody knows the way I play on the field and act off the field. I’m the same person. I just like to bring joy and happiness to everybody so they can feel good and relax.”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
