The Dodgers have agreed to terms with veteran outfielder Michael Conforto on a one-year, $17-million contract pending a physical, according to a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly about it.
It was unclear as baseball’s winter meetings began in Dallas on Sunday how the acquisition of the left-handed-hitting Conforto will influence the team’s continued pursuit of free agent Teoscar Hernández, who hit .272 with 33 homers and 99 RBIs for the World Series-winning Dodgers last season.
There were reports Sunday night that Juan Soto agreed to a 15-year, $765-million deal with the New York Mets. The free-agent outfielder also was being pursued by the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
Conforto, 31, hit .237 with a .759 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 130 games for the San Francisco Giants in 2024, the final year of a two-year deal in which he made $18 million last season.
A career .251 hitter with an .804 OPS, 167 homers and 520 RBIs in nine seasons, seven with the New York Mets and two with the Giants, Conforto is primarily a corner outfielder who has made 133 of his 861 starts in center field.
Conforto has a career .257 average and .838 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .232 average and .705 OPS against left-handers.
Plate discipline has also been a strength for Conforto, who drew 84 walks in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons for the Mets. Conforto struck out 118 times and walked 42 times in 488 plate appearances for the Giants last season.
If the Dodgers are able to re-sign Hernández, who is expected to command a deal of at least three years and $60 million, Conforto could platoon with the right-handed-hitting Andy Pages in left field and spell the switch-hitting Tommy Edman, who is a better hitter from the right side, in center field.
