Though they hope Marco Luciano can take the job entirely, the SF Giants have made it obvious that they are looking for depth at shortstop. Could they target former Los Angeles Dodger Kiké Hernández? Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription needed) claims that they are not chasing Tim Anderson or Amed Rosario.
Without signing a former Dodger, the SF Giants offseason under Farhan Zaidi would not be the same. Hernandez would blend in perfectly with Zaidi’s acquisitions of Ross Stripling, Joc Pederson, Alex Wood, and Jake McGee during his time with the Giants.
Could this former infielder for the Dodgers be the San Francisco Giants’ backup shortstop?
Hernández, who has played every position in the league at some point in his career aside from pitcher and catcher, has established himself as a reliable utility guy. He was traded back to the Dodgers after spending some time with the Red Sox in the previous season. He still has experience at shortstop, having played the position for the Red Sox for 64 games.
Despite having a decent amount of success against the Giants—10 career home runs and 40 RBI versus the orange and black—the veteran infielder does not have the greatest bat profile.
He slashed last season with the Dodgers and the Red Sox.In 508 plate appearances, he is hitting 237/.289/.357 (74 OPS+) with 11 home runs and 61 RBI. Even while those figures are not particularly remarkable, they are respectable for a player whose defensive versatility adds so much to the team.
For a Giants team that does not yet have complete faith in Luciano at shortstop, the right-handed bat makes a lot of sense. Having Hernández as an insurance policy that you can also shift around to anywhere on the diamond is a very significant commodity to have, especially if we find out early in the next season that Luciano is not yet ready to be the everyday shortstop.
While the Dodgers are still adding players to their Super Team, many Giants supporters would roll their eyes at Zaidi signing another mid-level former Dodger, they did give him some thought during the trade deadline. This winter, may they rekindle that interest?