Twins & 3X All-Star, ex-AL Saves Leader Part Ways

It's been an unfortunate and heartbreaking decline for the former three-time All-Star and AL Saves Leader over the past few years. After battling cancer to return to the major leagues in 2023, Liam Hendriks was then forced to undergo Tommy John surgery and sat out all of 2024. But he has sadly not been able to recapture his past form.

He has now opted out of his minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins, and the team has granted him his release.

#MNTwins have granted Liam Hendriks his release. Had an opt out.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) March 20, 2026

Hendriks, 37, pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2025 following his recovery from Tommy John, getting into just 14 games (13.2 innings) and posting a 6.59 ERA.

He signed a minor league deal with the Twins in February of this year, and actually put up a decent overall performance in Spring Training, with a 3.86 ERA in seven appearances. But it wasn't going to earn him a spot on the team, so he decided to move on.

Hendriks broke through in 2019, the first of his three All-Star seasons

In 2019, Hendriks first broke out with the Oakland A's, posting 25 saves in an All-Star season and establishing himself as an elite closer with a 1.80 ERA and 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings. He recorded 124 Ks in just 85 innings. He was even better in the shortened 2020 season, with a 1.78 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP and a 37:3 K/BB ratio in 25 innings.

He emerged as the American League saves champion in 2021 with the Chicago White Sox, with 38 saves and an equally stunning 113:7 K/BB ratio with a 0.73 WHIP in 71 innings. He put up another 37 saves in 2022 for his third All-Star season, but then got his frightening cancer diagnosis. He battled that over the offseason and into the start of the 2023 campaign before coming back to pitch five innings for the White Sox midway through that season. But a devastating elbow injury followed, and he had the TJ surgery in August.

Hendriks is now a free agent once again, and will try to find another team that might give him a shot.