As you may have heard, the White Sox just signed Liam Hendriks to a 3 year, $54M guaranteed contract. I personally think it was a pretty idiotic move. Which is not to say that he isn't a premier closer; he is. Over the last two years with the Athletics, he posted an 1.79 ERA with 39 saves in 99 games. His other stats are no less impressive: 13.1 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, and a 1.70 FIP.
But I think closers are just too risky to warrant such a contract with only two years of top-notch performance. Liam has been incredible, but two years doesn't make you Mariano Rivera. History is littered with closers who are eye-popping for a year or two, and then got hurt or lost effectiveness or something.
Hendriks may prove me wrong, and keep up his excellence, but I think that closers as a class are too risky to justify an $54M contract.
The guy's almost 32, and for most of his career, he's stunk. $54,000,000 for any player, any closer, any closer for three years, is absurd. "Idiotic" is pretty harsh, but also pretty accurate.
ReplyDeleteSaying that for most of his career he stunk is a little harsh. Though his ERAs were unremarkable, his FIPs, which are generally more indicative of a pitcher's actual ability, were generally pretty good.
DeleteAnd he has really become a better pitcher. But yeah, looking at it as a whole, I think it's a pretty bad move.