The Chicago Cubs’ decision to release Liam Hendriks on Thursday has opened a door the Twins ought to at least walk through.
Minnesota knows Hendriks well. He started his MLB career with the club as a starter, going 6.06 ERA over 156 innings from 2011-13 before the Twins moved on from him.
A few years later, though, he turned himself into one of the most reliable late-inning arms in the game. Hendriks became a lockdown reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, then was traded to the Oakland Athletics in the 2015-16 offseason.
He spent five seasons with Oakland and three with the Chicago White Sox, and for much of that stretch he was among baseball’s best closers.
That run brought plenty of hardware. Hendriks made three All-Star teams and won the AL Reliever of the Year award twice while pitching for Oakland and Chicago. He has earned just over $62 million in his career.
The last three years have been a different story. Lymphoma, which he has since fully recovered from, Tommy John surgery and other injuries have kept him out for long stretches.
That reality pushed him into a minor-league deal with the Twins this past offseason. He didn’t crack Minnesota’s Opening Day roster, opted out, and stayed unsigned until May 16, when he agreed to another minor-league contract, this time with the Cubs.
His path back has been slow, but the recent results have been encouraging. Hendriks didn’t get into a Cubs organization game until June 26, when he threw a scoreless inning in rookie ball. He then made four Triple-A appearances for Iowa this month and did not allow an earned run, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out five.
For a Twins bullpen that has been a mess, that’s at least worth a look. Entering Friday, Minnesota’s relievers ranked 29th in ERA at 5.19, 24th in strikeout rate at 20.3%, 27th in walk rate at 11.5% and 26th in opponent batting average at .255. The front office has already shown it knows the group needs help, acquiring Woo-Suk Go from the Detroit Tigers and Tommy Nance from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hendriks is not the same pitcher he was at his peak, and four strong Triple-A outings don’t guarantee anything at the major-league level. But if the Twins could bring him in on a league-minimum deal, there’s little downside in finding out whether there’s still something left. Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams and Kendry Rojas all have options, so Minnesota would need to clear 40-man space, but creating a 26-man opening shouldn’t be a problem.
The Twins also have several relievers with big-league experience rehabbing right now in Cole Sands, Julian Merryweather and Garret Acton. Even so, Hendriks is sitting there as a possible reinforcement, and Minnesota should seriously consider giving him another shot.
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