Free Agent Hot Stove: Liam Hendriks

This offseason does not feature a lot of great late inning relievers, but closer Liam Hendriks certainly tops the list of the best available. After struggling mightily as a starter in his first few years in the MLB, he became a solid reliever for the next four seasons. However, no one could’ve expected how incredible he’d perform in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2019, he was lights out. In 75 appearances, he had a 1.80 ERA, and 25 saves. In 2020, he had another tremendous season. He had 14 saves in 24 appearances, with a 1.78 ERA as the A’s full-time closer. Though he is going into his age 32 season, I really don’t believe that this will effect his stock drastically, considering he’s a closer.

As I just mentioned, he is entering his age 32 season. Though is would greatly effect the length of contract for pretty much any position in baseball, this factor should not effect Hendriks. He is a closer, and closers typically never get a lengthy contract, unless they are very young and have had continued success for a few years or more. Most closers stay in the 1-3 year deal range during free agency, and I believe Liam will stay in this range.

I believe the two teams that will be stop of the Liam Hendriks sweepstakes are the Philadelphia Phillies and the Oakland A’s. The Phillies are coming off of a severely underwhelming year, where their bullpen had over a 7 ERA. They did not have a consistent or effective closer the whole season, and I believe that Philadelphia will do all they can to get Hendriks. He would provide much needed stability in the bullpen, as the closer. Though I think they will go after Hand, it is clear that Hendriks is the better option, considering how bad Hand is in the Postseason.

There is always the chance that he ends up re-signing with Oakland, and I believe there is a great chance of this happening. He has proven to be an effective closer the past two seasons for them, and was a formidable option for the three years in Oakland before 2019. In his five years there, he has a 3.10 ERA, in 263 innings, over 247 appearances. They desperately need a closer to fill his void, so who better than Hendriks himself?

Though Oakland does greatly need a closer, I believe Philadelphia will be the one to pull Hendriks in. I think he will sign in Philly with roughly a three year/$55 million dollar deal. They have had no problem dishing out serious cash for late inning relievers in the past, like Jonathan Papelbon for instance. Oakland has a history of trying to put together winning teams for the lowest price, and unless Hendriks is willing to take a “hometown discount”, I don’t see the A’s going after him for that big of a price tag. With that being said, there are a ton of teams that need a closer and will be willing to spend a lot for him.