Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Cubs Claim Liam Hendriks

By Steve Adams | December 13, 2013 at 1:03pm CDT

The Cubs have claimed right-hander Liam Hendriks off waivers from the Twins, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (on Twitter). Hendriks had been designated for assignment last week to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Phil Hughes.

Hendriks, still just 24 years old, makes for a nice buy-low option for the Cubs. The 25-year-old ranked sixth and seventh on the Baseball America's Top 10 Twins prospects lists from 2010-11 and has a solid minor league history. The Australian righty has a 3.61 ERA with 6.2 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 254 career innings at Triple-A and a career 2.99 ERA in the minors as a whole.

Hendriks has been unable to put it together in three Major League stints, however, as evidenced by his bloated 6.06 ERA in 156 innings. He's averaged 5.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in those 156 frames to go along with a below-average 40.4 percent ground-ball rate. Hendriks barely averages better than 90 mph on his fastball, leading to too much hard contact when it's in the zone, as evidenced by a 23.3 percent line-drive rate from his opponents that has helped bloat his career BABIP to .330.

In their most recent write-up of Hendriks (prior to the 2011 campaign), Baseball America noted that Hendriks had the ceiling of a No. 3 starter if he could continue to keep his fastball down in the zone to pair with a solid slider and above-average changeup.

Share 6 Retweet 35 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Minnesota Twins Transactions Liam Hendriks

Rays Interested In Juan Uribe
Main
D-Backs Acquire Todd Glaesmann To Complete Heath Bell Trade
View Comments (12)
Post a Comment

12 Comments

  1. twins33

    12 years ago

    Not surprising, I’m not sad to lose him but Albers was a much better DFA candidate due to age/upside reasons.

    Reply
    • Sam 13

      12 years ago

      Andrew Albers? Noooo. Albers actually had some mlb success, something Hendricks could not and he had PLENTY of opportunities. It was time for him to move on.

      Reply
      • twins33

        12 years ago

        Too early to tell. I wouldn’t bank on 4 good games and 5-6 terrible games, which is what Albers had.

        Yes, Hendriks had chance after chance but he’s 3 to 4 years younger than Albers and can strike guys out (compared to Albers).

        A 3.75 k/9 and 60 percent LOB is pretty awful, and that’s what Albers provided. Those are worse than Blackburn’s final year with the Twins.

        I’d prefer to go with youth. There was a zero to 5 percent chance that Albers would have been claimed because he’s 28 and he can’t strike anyone out. I’m guessing if he gets to pitch with the Twins his ERA is going to be 4.50 or worse, likely worse.

        Albers was a nice story for a few games. I’d be surprised if he amounts to anything more than a nice story.

        Reply
        • ea19

          12 years ago

          Even if it is above 4.5…….Hendriks’ ERA is 6.06!! I don’t think Albers will ever be that high. Sure, he doesn’t strike guys out, but he is a lefty. If he can get a decent ground ball % then he will outperform Hendriks. Hendriks has had his fair chance, and now I would give Albers his fair chance. Of course, we are talking about 2 bottom feeder starters here so it may not matter either way:)

          Reply
  2. Sky14

    12 years ago

    Worth a shot for the Cubs but this guy didn’t seem like a major league pitcher with the Twins.

    Reply
  3. TheoHoyer

    12 years ago

    I’m guessing he dominated the minors because he has good control, but once he got to the majors, his stuff just doesn’t play as well. Not sure if this is worth a spot on the 40 man roster.

    Reply
    • twins33

      12 years ago

      He has an option left and he’s young so I’d say it’s worth the gamble. He is known as a nibbler with that control you speak of. Could get guys out in the minors with it, but hasn’t been able to in the majors. Also doesn’t really have an out pitch. In the majors, he was a line drive/HR machine.

      Reply
  4. WrigleyTerror37

    12 years ago

    Love this move for the cubs could easily be a solid rhp in the pen or compete for 5th spot in the rotation. Little risk decent reward

    Reply
    • cubtex

      12 years ago

      I agree. This was worth a gamble.

      Reply
  5. David Nelson

    12 years ago

    “Hendriks, still just 24 years old, makes for a nice buy-low option for the Cubs. The 25-year-old ranked sixth and seventh on the Baseball America’s Top 10 Twins prospects lists from 2010-11 and has a solid minor league history.”

    So, how old is he?

    Reply
    • rashomon

      12 years ago

      At the end of the paragraph he turned 26.

      Reply
  6. 0vercast

    12 years ago

    It’s a good signing for the Cubbies. Any 24-year old thrower with a Minor League track record like his is worth a couple more shots. I was really rooting for Liam to succeed with the Twins, but he looked like a guaranteed loss in almost all of his starts. I’m glad it was the Cubs that snatched him. I honestly hope he succeeds on the Northside; the Cubs are my second favorite team.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Rays Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minor League Contract

    MLB Announces 2025 All-Star Rosters

    Rhys Hoskins Suffers Grade 2 Thumb Sprain, Headed To IL

    Pirates Re-Sign Yohan Ramírez, Release Peter Strzelecki

    Diamondbacks Place Pavin Smith On IL, Select Tristin English

    Details On Bryan Reynolds’ Limited No-Trade Protection

    Tigers Select PJ Poulin

    Blue Jays Place Andres Gimenez On 10-Day Injured List

    Yankees Sign Geoff Hartlieb To Major League Deal

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version