Sportsnet columnist Shi Davidi reported that free-agent closer Liam Hendriks visited the Blue Jays’ facility in Dunedin, Florida.
Hendriks is the best reliever that’s still on the market, but he’ll likely get overpaid by one of the Major League teams. The right-hander made 24 appearances in the shortened season and finished with 14 saves, 37 strikeouts, a 1.78 ERA, and a 0.67 WHIP. Last year was just his second season as a closer, and he’ll be 32 years old by spring training.
This is a common dilemma in baseball, where the contracts shelled out to players are more representative of the performance history than future potential.
Hendriks is probably best suited for a team that feels he could be the missing link to a championship-caliber team; however, we know that relievers have a history of being inconsistent from one season to the other. Teams are actually better off stockpiling relief pitchers with the hope that at least one of them gets hot rather than spending a lot of money on a reliever that is anything but a sure thing.
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