The Twins have an agreement to bring veteran reliever Liam Hendriks back to Minnesota, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to MLB camp for the client of ALIGND Sports Agency, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
It’s a homecoming for Hendriks, who signed with the Twins as an amateur out of Australia and made his MLB debut at Target Field in September 2011. Hendriks spent parts of three seasons with the club, struggling to a 6.06 ERA in 30 appearances (28 starts). The Twins designated him for assignment over the 2013-14 offseason and lost him on waivers.
Hendriks bounced around the league for a few years before a full-time move to the bullpen and accompanying velocity spike took him to a much higher level. The righty broke out as an elite closer in Oakland and continued on that pace after signing a four-year free agent deal with the White Sox. He earned three All-Star nods, finished top 10 in Cy Young balloting in consecutive seasons (2020-21) and led the American League in saves.
The past couple seasons have been far more challenging. Hendriks famously was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the 2022-23 winter, though he quickly beat the disease. His return to the field was unfortunately cut short by an elbow injury. Hendriks underwent Tommy John surgery and has barely pitched over the last three seasons split between Chicago and Boston. He missed all of ’24 and was limited to 14 MLB appearances last year by a series of setbacks.
Elbow inflammation shelved him early in the year. He landed on the injured list at the end of May with an abdominal strain. Hendriks attempted to ramp up in September but felt renewed forearm discomfort and underwent ulnar surgery that ended his season. The Red Sox bought him out after just 13 2/3 innings of 11-run ball.
Although he settled for a minor league contract, Hendriks has a good chance to make the team. Minnesota has a patchwork bullpen that probably only has four locks: Taylor Rogers, Justin Topa, Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk. Trade pickup Eric Orze should enter camp with a good chance to win a job, while Jackson Kowar is out of options and needs to make the team or be designated for assignment. Kowar has a career 8.21 ERA, while everyone else aside from Rogers and Topa have a minor league option remaining.
As a player with six years of service time who finished last season on Boston’s major league roster, Hendriks hit the market as an Article XX(b) free agent. That means this deal comes with a trio of automatic opt-out dates under the collective bargaining agreement. He can trigger an out clause five days before Opening Day, on May 1, or on June 1. If he does, the Twins would have two days to either promote him or grant him his release.
Please mic him up while he’s pitching.
OK I will
Wishing Liam nothing but the best. Go and crush it out there.
I’m not upset with this pickup no risk on our end and really a wild card with how he might do considering his lack of innings the last few years. Also happy to see three Twins reunions lately but still missing my favorite (Garver).
To say it’s been a tough ride for him in recent years is an understatement. It’s great to see him still wanting to play despite being financially set and having already accomplished a solid career up to this point. He’s coming back because he clearly has love for the game. Wishing him all the best and hope he makes the big league roster.
Don’t know a better place to ask but does anyone here get a free mlb subscription through T-Mobile? I have for a couple years now and in the past I’ve still needed to pay for FanDuel or Bally or whatever but I’m curious if I’ll need to buy the reds content even though it will be distributed through mlb this year?
The shelf life of big league players is very short. Just 4 years ago, this guy was one of the best relievers in the game and had been for several years. Now he is on a minor league pact. Obviously there are other health factors involved here, but it just reinforces why players should ALWAYS take the money when it is offered rather than wait because your fall will come a lot sooner than you think.
He’s going to be a great analyst if he decides to go that route. Liam and Kristi are the absolute best when it comes to community projects. Some players have 1, maybe 2 initiatives they support. The Hendricks have like 7! Wishing him the best!
Number 8 on Australia’s richest athlete list has himself a minor league deal ! Good luck big fella.