If you have a bag of sunflower seeds, throw it to the sky.
Teo is back.
Out comes three giant applause, a bright smile and a deafening scream.
Teo is back.
THE The Dodgers the heartbeat is still beating. The soul of the Dodgers still stirs. The Dodgers are still the Dodgers.
A front office that respects the team culture while listening to its fans ensured this Friday during the The Dodgers have agreed to re-sign Teoscar Hernández to a three-year, $66 million contract, keeping last season’s championship hero in his place.
In the dugout, dousing the other home run hitters with sunflower seeds. At the clubhouse, ease the way for Shohei Ohtani. And, of course, at the plate, delivering huge hits all summer long, capped by drives that turned the season into the National League Division Series and World Series.
Learn more: Teoscar Hernández agrees to three-year, $66 million contract with Dodgers
Teo is back, and your sigh is as big as his personality, and your relief is as palpable as one of his late-inning swings.
Because, admit it, you were worried. You were worse than worried.
After the last bus passed, the last inspirational speech delivered, and the last raucous cheers let out, you barely had time to savor the November title celebration before you started waiting for the other blue shoe to drop.
Teo was a free agent, which meant this band of Ring Bearers could be broken up, and, oh no!
The Dodgers couldn’t let such a giant presence walk, could they? They weren’t really going to be blinded by analytics, age and contract length and fail to sign everyone’s new favorite player, were they?
In the past, this may have been the case. In the past, they were unlikely to reward a 32-year-old playing for his fourth team with a lucrative three-year contract based in part on intangibles.
You knew all of this, and you were afraid, and it clouded your entire perception of what had otherwise been an extremely successful offseason.
Signature Blake Snell, two-time Cy Young winner It was nice, but what about Téo?
Extension October Hero Tommy Edman It was a boss move, but hey, where is Teo?
Addition Michael Conforto, left-handed outfielder with a smart swing That was cool, but what does that mean for Teo?
Blake Treinen was brought backAnd Japanese star pitcher Roki Sasaki it could come but… hello? Teo?
All those fears were erased Friday afternoon, the usual time for sports teams to drop their bad news in the hopes it will fade into the weekend.
It was the opposite of that. Teo is back and the New Year’s party starts now.
Learn more: Mookie Betts thought about throwing a ball to Yankees fans who grabbed his glove and wrist
It turns out that even though the negotiations were painfully long, the end result was still evident in what is pretty close to a perfect relationship between a star and a team.
Hernández wanted to stay, something he expressed openly at the end of the championship parade.
And the Dodgers, valuing him not only as an All-Star player but also as a standout leader, wanted him to stay.
In reality, it was all pretty simple and now, for the rest of baseball, it’s downright stifling.
The Dodgers don’t need to do anything else this winter and they’re already better than last season.
By keeping their title core together while essentially adding two ace pitchers – Snell and the ohtani return mound – the Dodgers are on pace to win the National League West for the 12th time in 13 seasons and should be heavy favorites to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series since the New York Yankees 25 years ago.
Andrew Friedman and the Dodger ownership group understand this team and this market as well as any front office in franchise history. By bringing back a guy who hit 33 homers and 99 RBIs and arguably the team’s exciting personality, they continued to maintain a monster.
Look at their roster, loaded with regular season MVPs, National League Championship Series MVPs, World Series MVPs and, oh yes, a home run derby champion.
Learn more: MLB free agency: Teoscar Hernández agrees to return to Dodgers for $66 million over three years
Check out their rotation, led by four aces: Ohtani, Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Then there’s the bullpen, which could be anchored by the veteran who shut down the New York Yankees for 2 ⅓ innings in the deciding World Series game, with retaining Treinen a sneaky good move.
If possible, Friedman had a winter that rivaled Hernández’s home run in Game 5 of the Division Series in terms of excitement.
As crazy as it sounds, Friedman had an offseason that could come close to Hernández’s two-run double in Game 5 of the World Series.
Everything became clear Friday afternoon with two words that appeared on Hernández’s Instagram story.
“I’m back,” he wrote.
Back off, you shouted.
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
