“It is a team made to go far”: “Kike” Hernández and his reasons for choosing the Dodgers over the Yankees

Puerto Rican Enrique “Kike” Hernández and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a new one-year contract for the 2024 Major League season.

Hernández had started the season with the Boston Red Sox, a team with which he had signed as a free agent in 2021. But the Red Sox sent him in the middle of the campaign to Los Angeles, a team with which Hernández played for six seasons and even reached win his first and only World Series championship ring so far, in 2020.

The Puerto Rican earned a good reputation and good value in previous years for his versatility playing various positions in the infield, as well as in the outfield, but he is coming off two seasons of little offensive production.

Hernandez has had a good connection in Los Angeles with Dodger fans and feels comfortable in the city. “For me, it was a matter of choosing where I was going to fit best and with more options to play,” stated the player who has 7 of 10 MLB seasons in the Dodgers uniform.

Hernández himself commented that his decision was between two teams: Dodgers and Yankees. “I feel like, with the familiarity I have with the coaches and the way they move the players here, I was going to have more playing time than in other places,” Hernández said.

And he noted: “I like to win and this is a team made to go far.”

“In the end the offers came from the Dodgers and the Yankees, two big markets. But I chose the Dodgers because I knew the place and they have a lot of left-handed hitters, so I will have good options to hit against left-handed pitchers, while the Yankees have very good right-handed hitters,” explained the veteran infielder.

Regarding the New York Yankees’ interest in Hernández, manager Aaron Bonne responded the following: “I knew the Dodgers were in the bidding [por Hernández] and I think it was all about them opening up a space. But I know I was curious to come here.”

In addition, the interest on the part of the Yankees could indicate that the New York board continues trying to shape its bench, where the Venezuelans Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza, the Colombian Jeter Downs, Kevin Smith and Josh VanMeter are looking to earn the last positions from the big team roster.

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