Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training on Wednesday and games start on Feb. 21, but Kiké Hernández remains a free agent. This kind of slow-moving market and eventual return to the Dodgers has been just the way things go with him for the last two seasons, and Hernández triumphantly announced his own re-signing both times.

So it’s officially the start of Kiké season, but it’s been crickets from the fan favorite utility man.

In a recent video, a fan stopped Hernández on the street to ask if he was coming back to the Dodgers, to which he offered an exaggerated shrug while declining to actually say yes, no, or maybe.

It was hardly reassuring, but there’s little reason for Dodgers fans to panic. Hernández and Evan Phillips’ returns have been all but guaranteed, and LA just re-signed Phillips on Wednesday despite the fact that he underwent Tommy John just last May.

Hernández underwent an elbow surgery that will keep him out of the World Baseball Classic and a portion of the major league season. While Phillips’ re-signing with no movement on Hernández might be disquieting, it seems pretty likely that the Dodgers are just waiting to see how the roster shakes out.

Kiké Hernández was noncommittal when asked about his return to the Dodgers

Hernández typically likes to toy with Dodgers fans a little before he re-signs, too. In 2024, he recycled an farewell video to the Dodgers from 2020, let fans panic for a few hours, and then said “sike!” and announced that he was re-signing.

He had garnered some interest that offseason from the Angels, Yankees, and Tigers, among others, but he came back to the Dodgers anyway. The Angels were openly worried that Hernández was too preoccupied with going back to seriously consider an offer from them.

He got $6.5 million for his services in 2025, after $4 million in 2024. Somewhere in between that number seems likely for 2026, given that the organization already knows he won’t be available all season.

But there’s no rush to re-sign him anyway. He’s always made it very clear what his first priority is, and he’ll probably have to hear a firm and conclusive “no” to even try to branch out and attract other teams. Again, we’re in the Kiké window right now, so there’s no reason to panic right now. If we get to Opening Day without hearing about a deal … well, we’ll cross the bridge if we come to it.