Veteran right-hander Liam Hendriks has been granted his release by the Twins, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He can now sign with any club.
As an Article XX(b) free agent (i.e. six-plus years of service, finished last season on a major league roster/injured list) who signed a minor league deal in free agency, Hendriks had uniform opt-out dates written into his contract: one a week before Opening Day, a second on May 1 and a third on June 1. When a player triggers an out clause of that nature, the team has 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or release him back into free agency. The Twins opted for the latter route.
Hendriks, 37, was originally signed by the Twins out of Australia back in 2007. He made his MLB debut as a Twin in 2011 but was never able to settle into a rotation role. He eventually found himself designated for assignment and passed around the league via a series of waiver claims and small trades. From 2013-15, Hendriks bounced from the Twins, to the Cubs, to the Orioles, to the Blue Jays, to the Royals and finally to the A’s, with whom he’d eventually break out.
Even in Oakland, Hendriks took years to pan out. At one point, the A’s passed him through waivers unclaimed and outrighted him off the 40-man roster. But in 2019, a 30-year-old Hendriks emerged not just as then-skipper Bob Melvin’s closer but as one of the best relievers in baseball. From 2019-22, Hendriks pitched 239 innings with a 2.26, a mammoth 38.8% strikeout rate and a tiny 5.1% walk rate. He signed a three-year, $54MM deal with the White Sox ahead of the 2021 campaign and was excellent there for two years before health troubles arose.
Hendriks missed time after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He thankfully went through chemotherapy and came away cancer-free, but he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow not long after and wound up requiring Tommy John surgery. He inked a two-year deal with the Red Sox, planning to rehab the first year and join their bullpen the second. It didn’t go as well as hoped. Hendriks pitched 13 2/3 innings with a 6.59 ERA last season.
The return to the Twins this winter had the makings of a potential full-circle homecoming, but it seems Hendriks will ultimately land elsewhere. He’s had a decent spring, allowing three runs in seven innings, but Hendriks allowed nine hits, walked five batters, plunked another and only totaled five strikeouts. He averaged 93.9 mph on his four-seamer, which would be his lowest mark since he moved from the rotation to the bullpen back in 2015. He averaged 94.9 mph in Boston last year.
More to come.
