A familiar face returns to the Twins.
The Minnesota Twins are bringing back a familiar face, signing veteran reliever Liam Hendriks to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.
The deal reunites Hendriks with the franchise that gave him his start in professional baseball, as the 37-year-old looks to continue one of the most inspiring comeback stories in recent memory.
A Full-Circle Moment
Hendriks was originally signed by Minnesota as a non-drafted free agent out of Perth, Australia, back in 2007, and he made his big league debut at Target Field on September 6, 2011.
He spent parts of three seasons with the Twins as a starting pitcher but struggled to find his footing, posting a 6.06 ERA in 30 games before the club designated him for assignment.
After bouncing around with the Blue Jays, Royals, and Athletics, Hendriks made the switch to the bullpen and everything changed.
From 2019 to 2022, he became one of the best closers in baseball, earning three All-Star selections while pitching for Oakland and the Chicago White Sox.
Over that four-year stretch, he recorded 114 saves with a 2.26 ERA and averaged 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
For his career, Hendriks owns a 33-36 record with 116 saves and a 3.88 ERA across 490 games.
Why Minnesota Made the Move
The Twins are coming off a rough 2025 campaign where they went 70-92 and finished fourth in the AL Central.
Minnesota dealt away several key players at the trade deadline last summer, and the bullpen remains an area with plenty of question marks heading into 2026.
Manager Derek Shelton acknowledged the team does not have a clear closer and needs more right-handed experience out of the pen.
Adding a guy with Hendriks' resume on a no-risk minor league deal makes a lot of sense, especially when the pitching staff is still looking for answers across the board.
If Hendriks can get healthy and find anything close to his old form, he fills a massive need for a team trying to bounce back.
Could This Backfire?
The simple answer is that the risk here is almost zero for the Twins.
It is a minor league deal, so the financial commitment is small, and Hendriks does not take up a spot on the 40-man roster unless the team decides to promote him.
That said, the concerns around his health are very real.
Hendriks has pitched just 18.2 innings over the last three seasons after battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Tommy John surgery, hip inflammation, and a nerve procedure in his elbow.
He appeared in only 14 games for the Red Sox in 2025, going 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA in 13.2 innings before his season ended early.
The worry is that Hendriks' body simply may not hold up, and leaning on him in a late-inning role could leave the Twins scrambling if he goes down again.
Still, if there is anyone tough enough to make it work, it might be Hendriks.
His fight through cancer alone shows the kind of person he is, and the Twins are betting on that toughness to carry him through spring training and into a meaningful role in 2026. At worst, Minnesota loses nothing.
At best, they get a proven closer who can anchor the back end of a bullpen that badly needs one.