LA president of baseball operations said of Hernández, “His connecting with different guys, going out of his way on a number of different fronts was quite possibly the most impressive leadership I’ve ever seen.”
The Dodgers’ signing of Kiké Hernández isn’t yet official, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman on Monday talked about the versatile infielder and outfielder on the day pitchers and catchers reported to spring training at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.
Friedman was a guest on Dodgers Territory with Clint Pasillas and Alanna Rizzo on Monday, and asked about Hernández, who announced his agreement to return to the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon.
“It wasn’t something for us that, if we were not able to line up with Kiké, we were going to go ‘Here is the next-best option,’” Friedman said on Fair Territory. “A lot of times you have a need, you’re targeting a need, and you have a player at the top of your list, and then others. In this case it was Kiké or nothing.”
The entire Dodgers Territory interview with Friedman can be seen here.
“The impact he has made in October, on-field it was obvious. Off field, this past October may have been one of the most impressive displays of leadership I’ve ever seen,” Friedman said. “His connecting with different guys, going out of his way on a number of different fronts was quite possibly the most impressive leadership I’ve ever seen.”
This lines up with why, at the Dodgers’ fan fest at Dodger Stadium on February 1, when fans were chanting for the then-free-agent Hernández, Friedman said, “The door will never be closed on Kíké.”
Once the Hernández signing is finalized, the Dodgers will have 16 position players on the 40-man roster.