Veteran reliever Liam Hendriks has agreed to a Minor League deal with the Twins, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Wednesday night. Hendriks will be in big league camp. The club has not confirmed.
Hendriks, who turned 37 on Tuesday, not long ago had a case for being called the best closer in Major League Baseball, leading all relievers with a collective 9.5 fWAR from 2019-22, a 3.5-fWAR lead on the next most valuable reliever (Ryan Pressly, 6.0 fWAR). In that four-season period spent with the A’s and White Sox, he made all three American League All-Star teams pitching to a 2.26 ERA (188 ERA+) while averaging an astronomical 13.5 K/9 and 7.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Since 2022, however, Hendriks has been navigating seemingly never-ending adversity, beginning with receiving a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma that offseason, delaying his 2023 debut until May 29. He was only able to make five appearances that year before suffering an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. A free agent at the end of the 2023 season, he was cut loose by the White Sox and signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Red Sox.
After dedicating all of 2024 to rehab, Hendriks made his long-awaited Red Sox debut on April 20, 2025. Once again, his comeback was short-lived — after just 14 appearances out of Boston’s bullpen, he was placed on the 15-day IL with right hip inflammation.
That injury would prove to be effectively season-ending; Hendriks was transferred to the 60-day IL on July 8 after suffering a setback and was forced to pause his rehab process again in mid-September due to right forearm tightness, a particular concern given his recent Tommy John surgery. He ultimately underwent a right elbow ulnar nerve transposition procedure, not uncommon for players who have undergone Tommy John, later that month.
Heading into what would be his 15th MLB season having logged just 18 2/3 innings over the last three years, taking a chance with Hendriks is a low-risk move that could pay major dividends if he’s able to remain healthy and recapture even some of the form he had at his best.
