Twins’ Front Office Awkwardly Calls Liam Hendriks

The Minnesota Twins bullpen has spent the opening weeks of the season doing an impressive impression of a piñata. Opponents are lining up, taking their swings, and walking away with something sweet. Near the bottom of the league in ERA, WPA, FIP, and just about every other acronym that signals distress, Minnesota’s relief corps has quickly turned from a question mark into a flashing red warning sign.

Naturally, this led the front office to a bold and innovative solution: revisiting the exact veteran option they decided they did not need roughly five minutes ago.

Back in spring training, the Twins had a handful of experienced bullpen arms in camp, including former All-Star closer Liam Hendriks. The narrative practically wrote itself. A respected veteran returning to the organization where his career began, providing leadership and stability to a group that needed both. It had all the makings of a feel-good story. Instead, the Twins released him before Opening Day.

Fast-forward to early May, and with the bullpen actively setting new and creative ways to lose leads, the front office reportedly found itself staring at Hendriks’s contact information like a middle schooler debating whether to text their crush in the wake of a mortifying mutual rejection.

“It was a tough call,” said one anonymous front office member. “Not emotionally. Just, you know, logistically. We had to figure out what to even say. There is no template for ‘Hey, remember when we said you were not good enough? Quick follow-up, about that.’”

Another executive described the internal discussion leading up to the call.

“We ran the numbers,” they said. “Then we ran them again, hoping they would change. They did not. At some point, someone just said, ‘What if we simply pretended none of that happened?’ and honestly that was the best plan we had.”

According to sources, the call itself was… not smooth.

“Hey Liam, it’s us,” one staffer reportedly began. “Just checking in. How have you been? Crazy weather lately, right? Anyway, quick question, how do you feel about high-leverage innings on a team that currently treats them like a suggestion?”

Hendriks, for his part, handled the situation about as well as could be expected.

“I missed the part where I was supposed to be gone long enough for this to make sense,” Hendriks said. “But I appreciate the confidence now. It is very… timely.”

He paused before adding, “Do I get bonus points for pretending I didn't hear them laugh nervously before asking if I still had my glove?”

Twins fans, meanwhile, have taken the development in stride, which is to say not at all.

“I thought the plan was to build a bullpen,” said one fan outside Target Field. “Not crowdsource one after two weeks.”

Another fan was more direct.

“They let him go, watched the bullpen implode, and now they're calling him like they forgot their wallet at dinner,” they said. “At this point, I'm expecting them to check if Joe Nathan is free, too.”

There is, of course, a certain symmetry to all of this. The Twins identified a potential solution, moved on from it, and then rediscovered it only after exhausting less effective alternatives. It's not quite a full circle moment, so much as a slow, awkward shuffle back to where they started.

Whether Hendriks actually returns remains to be seen. Pride, practicality, and the memory of that spring decision all loom large. But the mere existence of the call says plenty about where things stand.

For now, the bullpen continues to search for answers, the front office continues to search for better decisions, and somewhere out there, a phone sits quietly, hoping it does not ring again. Because if it does, everyone already knows how that conversation is going to go.