In the beginning stages of a rebuild on the fly, the Chicago Cubs are likely going to be busy at this year’s MLB trade deadline, trading away veteran players for young talent. Starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks fits the bill for a likely trade candidate, and the 32-year-old right-hander can bring a veteran presence to a contender’s rotation.
Hendricks has pitched all nine of his professional seasons with the Cubs, racking up an 87-61 career record and a stellar 3.46 ERA. For the 2022 season, Hendricks has a 4-6 record across 16 starts, with a 4.80 ERA and 66 strikeouts, all numbers that set a pretty standard line for what Hendricks has produced in his career.
A wrinkle in any trade is that Hendricks was placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain, his first time on the injury list since 2019. Hendricks will not resume throwing for another 2-3 weeks, moving any sort of impact he could have into mid-August.
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3 Best Trade Destinations For Kyle Hendricks
Tampa Bay Rays
Injuries have hit the rotation hard for the Tampa Bay Rays, and they are heavily reliant on Corey Kluber, Drew Rasmussen, and Shane McClanahan to help cover. With Jeffrey Springs, Shane Baz, and Josh Fleming currently on the IL, an August addition like Hendricks would help this roster a ton.
Hesitation to target an SP that is currently injured could make the injury woes even worse for the Rays, but at a decompressed price, Hendricks is a solid option for Tampa Bay to target. Even if he would not be back in the rotation until September as a worst-case scenario, Hendricks would slide in as a reliable veteran arm ready to pitch in a postseason atmosphere once again.
New York Mets
While less impacted in the injury department than the Rays, the New York Mets have lost Jacob deGrom to yet another long-term injury. With Max Scherzer holding down the rotation with another Cy Young-like season, the Mets are less desperate for rotational help.
However, and this is a big aspect of their postseason success, the Mets can afford to take a flier on Hendricks and his late return this year for their bullpen. While he hasn’t made a non-starting appearance since 2016, Hendricks would be a nice wild card for the Mets to utilize if they need to go to the pen early – and they wouldn’t need to send a lot to the Cubs for him either.
Toronto Blue Jays
With both Hyun-jin Ryu and Yusei Kikuchi fighting through ailments and Jose Berrios getting roughed up a bit lately, it makes sense that the Toronto Blue Jays would be in on Hendricks. Fighting with the Rays to bring Kendricks to the AL East likely would raise any return for the Cubs for Hendricks, but the Blue Jays should be able to win that battle.
Having just fired manager Charlie Montoya, the Blue Jays need to find something to help keep them in the Wild Card hunt. Sitting at 47 wins puts them third in the division and tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second wild-card spot. The American League will certainly not be an easy fight this season, so adding any sort of veteran pitching can go a long way, especially an option like Hendricks that has been through this type of thing before.
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