Former Red Sox Reliever Finds New Home In AL Central
Former Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks will continue his comeback with the Minnesota Twins.
FanSided’s Robert Murray was the first to report on the right-hander’s new contract. It’s a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand notes.
“Hendriks recently threw for scouts in Florida and was impressive enough for Minnesota to take a flier,” Masslive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports.
Hendriks joined the Red Sox before the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, signing a two-year, $10 million contract.
The 37-year-old missed the 2024 campaign and made his Boston debut last year, compiling 14 relief appearances. But he struggled, going 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA, giving up 10 earned runs in 13.2 innings.
His comeback ended in September with elbow surgery. And his Red Sox tenure ended in November when the club declined its $12 million option, instead deciding to pay him a $2 million buyout, according to Cotillo.
Hendriks was a three-time All-Star before coming to Boston and twice had top-10 finishes in voting for the American League Cy Young Award.
In 2021 with the Chicago White Sox, he led the AL with a career-high 38 saves.
The reliever’s new deal brings him back to his MLB roots. Hendriks make his big-league debut in 2011 with the Twins. But he did so as a starting pitcher and it didn’t go well, posting a 6.06 ERA in 30 games (28 starts).
He bounced from the Twins to the Chicago Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles to the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of the 2014 season. Months later, the Blue Jays flipped Hendriks to the Kansas City Royals ahead of the 2014 MLB trade deadline. That’s when his transition to the bullpen began.
Hendrik’s nomadic experience included a trade following the 2014 campaign, going back to the Blue Jays.
One year later, Toronto traded Hendriks to the A’s, and that’s when and where everything clicked for the right-hander. After five years in Oakland, Hendriks signed a three-year, $54 million contract with the White Sox.
The 14-year veteran brings 114 career saves to a Twins club which finished in fourth place in the AL Central last season with a record of 70-92, putting it 18 games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians.