White Sox Sign Liam Hendriks: The Chicago White Sox reached the postseason last year, but instead of resting on their laurels, they’re making moves to get over the hump, including signing Liam Hendriks. Their latest off-season move, on Friday, is the signing of stud reliever Liam Hendriks to a four-year contract worth $54 million.
White Sox Sign Liam Hendriks
In isolation, the signing of even an elite reliever doesn’t move the needle much for betting lines. However, in conjunction with the Pale Hose’s other offseason moves, their gambling lines are worth discussion. Further, Hendriks remains an elite reliever, but where does he rank for 2021 with his new club?
White Sox MLB Futures Betting Odds
The White Sox are -110 favorites to win the American League Central, +400 to win the American League, and +1000 to win the World Series, according to BetMGM. Last year, they finished one game behind the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central crown with a 35-25 record and a Pythagorean record that was one game better at 36-24, per Baseball-Reference.
The Twins appear poised to take a step back without Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario, and Trevor May. Ditto for Cleveland after making a rebuilding move and trading Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the Mets.
Conversely, in addition to signing Hendriks, the White Sox have traded for workhorse starter Lance Lynn and signed veteran outfielder Adam Eaton. They’ll also look for a rebound from Yoan Moncada after he struggled while dealing with Covid-19 and bank on the continued development of promising young players such as Dylan Cease, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, and Nick Madrigal.
Additionally, the team’s top prospect, Andrew Vaughn, is expected to get the call early in the year and add a potent bat to Chicago’s already talented lineup and replace a disappointing season from Edwin Encarnacion (71 wRC+ in 2020, according to FanGraphs).
- The White Sox are rightfully the betting favorites to win the American League Central, but the odds are too short for me to suggest tying your money up.
- However, I like their lines for winning the American League and World Series and would much rather take a couple of small stabs on those futures.
Fantasy Baseball: Hendriks with White Sox
Hendriks finished last season as the most valuable fantasy full-time reliever, according to FantasyPros. It wasn’t just a pandemic-shortened season fluke, either.
Among relievers who’ve pitched at least 70 innings since 2019, Hendriks ranks first in ERA (1.66) and FIP (1.66), seventh in xFIP (2.89), third in SIERA (2.34), tied for third in WHIP (0.87), fourth in strikeout percentage (38.4%), and fifth in swinging-strike percentage (17.8%), per FanGraphs. As the surface stats and advanced metrics indicate, Hendriks is one of the game’s elite relievers.
Hendriks’ consensus ADP is second among actual relievers (excluding starters listed with reliever eligibility) to only Josh Hader‘s. His ADP of 69.0 is fair for gamers willing to invest in a closer early in drafts, and I have him ranked as RP2 behind Hader as well.
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