Hernandez was coming off of a 107 OPS+, I think teams might have been reluctant he was falling off. The last time Santander had an OPS+ under 120 was in 2021.

He's hit more HRs in the past 3 years than any switch hitter in baseball and doesn't kill you in the field. His getting a QO was never in doubt. Not even in May.

I'm telling you why he should be moved (to the minors or in a trade) now, especially because there are superior replacement options on the major league roster and in the minors that can be more productive than him, as well as make the 26-man roster more versatile. It's perfectly reasonable for us to disagree on the timing on when the team will or should move on from Hays, and you're most likely correct that it will most likely be this offseason. But because I want the team to win a World Series this season, I hope they move on from him now/ASAP. Unfortunately, because of Elias's track record with even worse players such as Rougned Odor, Adam Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Ryan McKenna, and Jorge Mateo, I do think it'll be much later than I'd want. And, in my opinion, it's going to be to the detriment of the team. Another thing to consider - you point out that Hays has an OPS over .800 against lefties in 2024 at the moment. I don't think it's reasonable to consider that to be sustainable to due Hays' own career splits. Hays has a career OPS against lefties of .788. So it's reasonable to expect Hays to wind up close to that number by the end of this season. Even if Hays settles at .800 OPS against lefties as his final line, that'll mean he's likely going to be slashing an OPS of below .725ish (maybe less, I'm not great with math on the fly) the rest of the way to wind up there. That's not really any kind of significant platoon advantage to be benching Kjerstad in particular. The other reason it's reasonable to expect Hays' OPS against lefties to regress is that, just as Hays has a pronounced favorable career split against LHP, he also has a pronounced unfavorable career split in the second half. For his career, Hays has hit .242/.296/.710 in the second half, for a tOPS+ of 90. So Hays in the second half has been 10 percent worse than his total career OPS. That makes sense given Hays is an injury prone player and tends to play through nagging injuries, leading to diminished production at the plate.  Hays is/has been playing hurt. So it's not good baseball to stick with him and merely hope for the best, or to expect for him to continue overperforming considering his talent level, underlying metrics, and his career production. Its best to move on quickly to the younger options the team has available to replace him. 

Teoscar Hernandez seems like the good comp for what type of salary he would get though the year he having hitting might pass that.  Hernandez took a 1 year deal for 23.5 million for little bounce back deal.  

Elias is talking to everyone. Just like pretty much everyone else.