ORLANDO — The Los Angeles Dodgers have gauged trade interest in outfielder Teoscar Hernández, as The Athletic reported last week, and it’s emerged as part of the buzz at the start of the annual Winter Meetings. Yet, the Dodgers’ odds of moving him still aren’t that high.

General manager Brandon Gomes, speaking at the Signia by Hilton, said it “doesn’t feel likely” that the two-time reigning World Series champions would move Hernández, who is entering the second year of the three-year, $66 million deal he agreed to just 12 months ago.

“Obviously you can never say never on those types of things, but Teo, I know that’s come up,” Gomes said. “That’s not something we anticipate at all.”

Even entertaining the idea of moving Hernández centers around opportunism. There is a dearth of quality right-handed hitting outfield options in the sport, as Mike Petriello recently laid out at MLB.com.

For his part, Hernández is coming off a down season offensively. His 103 OPS+ in 2025 was a career low, and the team’s ideal defensive alignment would not have him in right field, where he played this past season.

Still, that doesn’t mean the Dodgers are particularly motivated to move him — to another team, or to left field, where his lack of range could be minimized.

“Teo certainly fits,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “He has helped us win two championships. He’s one of my favorites. Could he move to left? Potentially. I do think that with the versatility potential and how we potentially shape this roster, there’s some options. But right now, he’s our right fielder.”

The argument for keeping him is simple: Hernández, 33, was the Dodgers’ most consistent hitter throughout each of their last two title runs, posting a .780 OPS with eight home runs while also lengthening the lineup beyond its star core of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith.

The Dodgers already are seeking to add an outfielder, and would double that need if they move off of Hernández. While Tommy Edman could be an option in center field, he will be coming off a debridement procedure on his right ankle that Gomes said could delay him in spring training.

There is a temptation to get younger with a position player group that was the oldest in the majors a year ago, and a chance to double down on defense with Andy Pages in an outfield corner. Still, the reason why Hernández would be appealing to teams would be the same reasons for keeping him — there aren’t a ton of bats like his available.

The reason this is even a conversation comes on the other side of the ball. Hernández registered -9 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, ranking 33rd out of 36 players at his position. His range is poor, and he’s particularly struggled on balls hit towards the lines, causing flubs that have turned base hits into extra-base ones and resulted in damage.

His defense had been a concern even before August, when he allowed a shallow fly ball to drop in a walk-off loss to the lowly Colorado Rockies in Denver.

“I will say from my eye test, (that) game in Colorado, the last time we were in Denver, from that point on, his right field defense was at least average,” Roberts said.

The stretch that followed that miscue still had some hiccups. Roberts sat Hernández in early September, laying out that he wanted to see more “edge” from the two-time All-Star. He had a pair of defensive mistakes in October that led to runs (in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Cincinnati Reds and Game 5 of the World Series against the Blue Jays). The mistakes came on balls hit softly down the right-field line.

The Dodgers won the two series anyway, in part because they had Hernández in the lineup. That’s the balance Los Angeles is considering, as his name has been floated around.