As Kyle Hendricks' storied Cubs career ends -- 'Chicago will always be so special in my heart' -- his next chapter begins

CHICAGO — Kyle Hendricks figured he would be sitting around all offseason and wait it out before finding his next big-league opportunity.

Instead, Hendricks’ first experience with free agency didn’t even last a week — he finalized a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Although all signs pointed to 2024 being Hendricks’ last with the Chicago Cubs, his new deal officially ends his 12-plus years with the organization and the only MLB team he has pitched for.

“One thing I’m really excited about is to just have some fresh eyes on me,” Hendricks said Friday. “I’m just really excited to start diving in and seeing what all these guys have for me and the information. I do feel like I was completely healthy last year, which was a huge positive for me. Outside of that, I just didn’t throw well, but at the very end of the year, I finally felt like I was getting back to myself.

“I’m very excited where it can take me, what I can accomplish.”

Hendricks, 34, ended his 11-year Cubs career with 97 wins and a 3.68 ERA over 276 regular-season games (270 starts), earning two top-10 Cy Young Award finishes and a World Series title.

“I obviously knew this was a strong possibility, I didn’t know it was going to happen early in the GM meetings, but I think the location made a ton of sense for him, and I’m happy for him,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this week. “I do feel like with a guy like him you know it’s not goodbye. I would be quite shocked at some point when he’s done pitching if he’s not working for the Cubs in some capacity or around the ballpark a lot. I don’t think the fans are going to forget about him.”

Added Hendricks, when asked about reuniting with the franchise once his playing career is over: “It’s just so nice and relieving to know I have that waiting in the future, if it is a possibility. Chicago will always be so special in my heart.”

Hendricks went out on a high note in his last start with the Cubs on the penultimate day of the 2024 season, tossing 7 1/3 shutout innings while allowing just two hits as he pitched into the eighth inning for the first time since June 10, 2023.

That outing was part of a strong finish for Hendricks, who posted a 4.17 ERA in nine starts over the last two months of the season.

“It was an amazing ending to the season for me in a lot of ways, just personally, but again, we didn’t do what we wanted to accomplish as a team, and we didn’t win, we didn’t make it to the playoffs, and that’s always the goal of a team setting out for the year,” Hendricks said. “So, yeah, there were some things selfishly that maybe were a cool story in that, but at the end of the day, it comes down to winning.

“Of course, I would have loved opportunity in Chicago, but I’m so excited for where that organization is at. They’re set up so good with young pitchers, and it just made sense for both sides to move on.”

Angels general manager Perry Minasian lauded Hendricks as a person, noting the background work they did on the veteran was as good as he has ever heard for what he brings to a team and clubhouse. Beyond what Hendricks will add behind the scenes in Anaheim like he did in Chicago, the Angels believe he has a lot still left in the tank.

“We don’t see any reason why he can’t get back to that point where he was in ’23,” said Minasian of Hendricks, who had a 3.74 ERA and 114 ERA+ in 24 starts that year. “This is somebody we’re betting on, obviously, to get back to the form he was.”

The Angels identified some things within Hendricks’ delivery to adjust that they believe will get him back to being the pitcher he was two years ago. Minasian said part of the reason the deal came together so quickly is that Hendricks wanted to be in Anaheim. Beyond getting a guaranteed MLB contract, it will be a return to the area where Hendricks grew up, roughly 30 miles away.

“From talking to him, I think he’s extremely motivated to perform and to have an opportunity to go out there and pitch and do some of the things he’s done in the past,” Minasian said. “I think he’s extremely motivated to not only perform, but come in and make an impact and and help lead this club.”

Through his first-half struggles that saw him moved to the bullpen for three weeks until injuries created another opportunity to start, Hendricks always stayed true to himself. His self-awareness, both to his strengths at this point in his career and how he was trending toward the Cubs moving on from him midseason because of his performance, is an attribute that should continue to serve him well with the Angels.

“It probably is the most important thing, just staying secure in who I am, following my path, but … being open-minded to the new eyes that are in front of me,” Hendricks said. “I know who I’m as a pitcher, I’m secure in that, and as a person with my family, everything. So just excited to take that whole group and move on to something new and experience a new adventure — it’s such a blessing in general, and I’m so lucky to be playing Major League Baseball.”