So, the market is … right now? This is an amazing deal, man.
Shortly after clubs received word that the commissioner wanted them to plan a start to the season on time, the Chicago White Sox finalized a big deal for the nearest Liam Hendriks, which will guarantee him $ 54 million in three years, eliminating fully the previous projections this winter that made him close a deal for just a little over half That amount. Clearly, the White Sox really want to bet on 2021, and they clearly predict that the financial side of the game will be fine for years to come.
A financial caveat to the deal is that it is simultaneously a $ 54 million guarantee over three years, but also possibly a four-year deal, unless the White Sox desperately wants it to go away after three years:
If the White Sox refuses the option, they will be able to pay for the acquisition of $ 15 million over several years. But the incentive certainly exists for the team to catch it. And because it goes so big, the White Sox gets the best approach in baseball in the last two seasons.
– Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 12, 2021
Basically, in the fourth year, the White Sox will choose between having Hendriks on their team for the 35-year season or getting the benefit of deferring part of the final payment of $ 15 million (plus some luxury accounting taxes, depending on what happens to their payroll in the coming years and with the next CBA).
I’ve never seen a business like this, so it’s a little difficult to categorize as we normally would. But it remains the case that he has $ 54 million guaranteed, mainly for the next two or a few years, when he thinks he is at his best. So it’s a monstrous contract for a close-up that didn’t even receive a qualifying offer from the A’s.
Hendriks was a very good reliever for a long time before he became truly elite in the past two years, when he discovered something with his four-seamer that gave him two more MPH:
If the White Soxs are catching that guy, then they’ll be perfectly happy with this deal, and the combined addition of Lance Lynn to the rotation (plus Michael Kopech’s comeback) could give the White Sox some of the best general pitchers in the American League.
Oh, too? Your schedule is loaded.
Now they just need the new manager to be acceptable …
As for the timing of this deal in relation to the start of the season and the vaccine and the finances and all that stuff, I can’t say for sure that there is a relationship, but when all the top of the market is stopped and then you have an eye-popper this, it’s hard not to say that something has changed behind the scenes. If this is a tea leaf about the state of the game and overall recipe expectations this year, it is a very good tea leaf. And hey, good for White Sox for spending aggressively when they have a very, very winning opportunity.
To put this signature in context, it is the level of business we saw for those who closed in this age group during the boom a few years ago. Wade Davis, who was coming from a very good (but not super elite) year with the Cubs, got a three-year, $ 52 million contract with the Rockies a few years ago, entering his 32-year season. This is clearly a compensation contract, where Hendriks had a jump to perhaps top performance in the year and no qualification offer attached. Again, it looks like a good tea leaf.
Bonus curiosity for leaving him: Hendriks was part of the Cubs organization for 10 days in December 2013. The Cubs removed him from the twins’ exemptions and then tried to escape from themselves, only to lose him to the Orioles. He then split his 2014 season between Royals and Blue Jays, before his debut in 2015 with the Blue Jays.