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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
Liam Hendriks agreed to a two-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, sources told ESPN, a bet by the team that the All-Star reliever will eventually bounce back from Tommy John surgery.
Hendriks’ proposed contract will guarantee him $10 million, assuming that he passes the physical examination, with the possibility that he could earn more money through performance bonuses. Hendriks had reconstructive elbow surgery last summer, and given the typical 15-month recovery for that procedure, he may pitch late in the 2024 season, if at all. The real payoff for the Red Sox might occur in 2025.
Hendriks, who just turned 35, survived stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma that was diagnosed in the fall of 2022, while a member of the Chicago White Sox. After successfully completing treatment, Hendriks returned to action on May 29, 2023 — but he would pitch just five games before he was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Hendriks has pitched 476 games over 13 seasons in the big leagues, for the Twins, Royals, Athletics and White Sox, and three times has been named to the American League All-Star teams; twice, he’s garnered down-ballot votes for the Cy Young Award. He led the AL in saves in 2021, with 38, and in his career, he’s compiled 727 strikeouts in 650 innings. Hendriks is known as much for his effusive personality as he is for ability to miss bats.
Boston will have two elite closers on its 40-man roster, but there won’t be a closer controversy. Kenley Jansen is currently penciled in as the closer for the Red Sox, a team that appears to be going through a measured rebuild. Boston has listened to trade proposals for Jansen this winter, and rival executives expect that he’ll be moved to another team sometime before the summer deadline.
If Hendriks bounces back to form late this season or in 2025, he could serve as the Boston closer, and perhaps become a midseason trade candidate next year if the Red Sox don’t contend.
The deal is only the third free agent signing for Boston alongside right-handers Lucas Giolito and Cooper Criswell after team chairman Tom Werner said the Red Sox were going into the 2023-24 offseason “full throttle.”
Jansen and setup man Chris Martin both are in the final season of two-year deals, and the only Red Sox players beyond Hendriks under contract for 2025 are star third baseman Rafael Devers, shortstop Trevor Story, designated hitter Masataka Yoshida, right-hander Garrett Whitlock and Giolito.
Boston’s projected Opening Day payroll is around $165 million, which ranks 13th in baseball and would be the lowest for the Red Sox since 2014, when their $156.4 million number was the game’s fifth highest. It includes the $17 million in cash Boston sent Atlanta to help cover left-hander Chris Sale‘s contract after the Braves acquired him for infielder Vaughn Grissom.
The Red Sox are coming off their third last-place finish in four seasons, and projection systems peg them at the bottom of the American League East this year as well.
After hiring Craig Breslow to replace Chaim Bloom as chief baseball officer, Boston has done little to improve its fortunes for this season. Gone from last year’s major league roster are Sale, free agents Justin Turner, James Paxton and Adam Duvall, and three more players traded: outfielder Alex Verdugo (New York Yankees), reliever John Schreiber (Kansas City) and infielder Luis Urias (Seattle). Boston also acquired veteran outfielder Tyler O’Neill in a trade with St. Louis.
The Red Sox’s future looks much better thanks to canny drafting during Bloom’s regime. Their three best prospects, outfielder Roman Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer and catcher Kyle Teel, all could join Hendriks on the major league roster in 2025.
When healthy, Hendriks is among the best closers in baseball. The Perth, Australia, native features a four-seam fastball that sat around 97 mph before his elbow injury and complemented it with a wipeout slider. Since converting from starter to reliever in 2015, Hendriks is 30-19 with a 2.97 ERA in 461.1 innings, striking out 604, walking 106 and allowing 44 home runs.
Information from ESPN’s Jeff Passan was used in this report.