Source: Conforto to join Dodgers for 1 year, $17M

DALLAS -- The Los Angeles Dodgers, in need of help in their outfield and having missed on signing Juan Soto, reached agreement with Michael Conforto on a one-year, $17 million contract, a source told ESPN on Sunday night.

Conforto, 31, spent the past two years with the San Francisco Giants, slashing .238/.322/.418 with 35 homers and 124 RBIs in 255 games while playing both left and right field. Historically a better hitter against right-handers, Conforto had reverse splits last season and was especially productive against opposing left-handed pitchers, slashing .284/.349/.537 in 106 plate appearances.

Entering Major League Baseball's winter meetings, which will begin Monday, the Dodgers were among five finalists for Soto, alongside the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. And though the Dodgers made what sources described as a competitive offer, it was the Mets who landed Soto on a 15-year, $765 million deal.

The question is how the Conforto signing might impact the Dodgers' pursuit of Teoscar Hernández, another free agent corner outfielder who was a clubhouse favorite amid L.A.'s championship run this year.

The Dodgers and Hernández have been in negotiations for the past few weeks but have been unable to bridge the gap, sources familiar with the process have said.

Despite adding Conforto, the right-handed batter Hernández might still fit within the Dodgers' plans. At the moment, Conforto, Tommy Edman and Andy Pages project as the Dodgers' outfielders in 2025, with Mookie Betts transitioning once again to the middle infield. But Edman also could see a lot of time at shortstop depending on which other moves are made this offseason.

If the Dodgers don't agree with Hernández, the Yankees and Red Sox are both expected to pursue him aggressively. Others might also pivot in his direction.

Conforto looked like a rising star with the Mets early in his career, producing an .864 OPS and 12.2 Baseball-Reference wins above replacement from 2017 to 2020. But he had a down year in 2021, declined the Mets' qualifying offer, received scant interest as a free agent during the lockout-shortened offseason then injured his shoulder while training, prompting surgery that kept him out for the entirety of 2022.

After two solid-yet-unspectacular years in San Francisco, he'll fill the Dodgers' need for a left-handed-hitting outfielder.