The Pirates and the Lefty rich hill agree to a one-year, $8 million contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The case is awaiting a physical.
Hill, 43 in March, has one of baseball’s most unique stories. He enjoyed some success as a starter early in his career, which began with the Cubs. In 2007, he made 32 starts for the Cubbies, pitching 195 innings with a 3.92 ERA. However, injuries and underperformance led to a long period of struggle for Hill. He didn’t reach 60 MLB innings pitched in a season from 2008 to 2015, often struggling with his health or his command or both while rebounding at Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, the Angels and the Yankees.
Hill’s struggles were so pronounced that he was injured while pitching for the Long Island Ducks for a time in 2015, but he showed enough promise to earn a minor league contract with the Red Sox. He was promoted late in the season and made four starts with a 1.55 ERA. That was enough for the A’s to bet on him, as they signed him to a $6 million contract for his 36-year-old season. Hill cemented his unlikely late-career comeback by posting a 2.12 ERA in 2016 over 20 starts and has continued to post generally strong results every year since.
Hill is no workaholic, as he hasn’t reached 160 innings in any season outside of that 2007 campaign with the Cubs. What it has been able to deliver in recent years has generally been strong innings on a rate basis. From 2016 to present, he’s made at least 20 starts and recorded at least 110 frames in five of six full seasons, with 2019 being the only exception when a forearm strain limited him to just 13 starts and 58 2/3 innings. Meanwhile, he has a 3.39 ERA, 25.8% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 39.7% rush rate, spending time with the A, the Dodgers, Twins, Rays, Mets and Red Sox.
The southpaw hasn’t had as much success the past three seasons, especially in the strikeout department. While he struck out 29% of batters faced from 2016 to 2019, he’s only been off 21.6% since then. It also increased his ERA, as he came in at 4.27 with Boston in 2022, with a strikeout rate of 20.7%, a walk rate of 7% and a ground ball rate of 40. .2% this year. Nonetheless, he still found ways to be effective, as his hard hit rate was in the 79th percentile this year and his average outing speed in the 56th.
Coming into his campaign at 43, Hill has still garnered plenty of interest on the open market this offseason. The Orioles, Angels, Rangers and Red Sox have all shown some interest, but it was the Pirates who secured his services for 2023. Hill is the second rotational addition the club has made this offseason, as they l also added. Vince Velazquez a few weeks ago. These two should fit next to each other Mitch Keller, J.T. Brubaker and Roansy Contreras in the rotation of the club, hitting Bryse Wilson to a long relief role in the bullpen. The club will have John Oviedo, Luis Ortiz and a few other weapons available as depth for unavoidable wounds or future trades. For the clubs that missed out on Hill, the market for free agent starting pitchers is now dominated by players like Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Cluber, Michael Wacha and Johnny Cueto.
The Bucs have been firmly in rebuilding mode for a few years coming off a 100-game losing season, but they’ve been active enough to add veterans for 2023. They acquired Ji-Man Choi in a trade with the Rays and also signed carlos santana, Austin Hedges and Jarlin Garcia, as well as adding Velasquez and Hill to the rotation. All of these players are lined up to be short-term additions, as they are each slated for free agency after 2023. While these players may make the club more competent for the upcoming season, they are also lined up to be trade candidates. about Six months from now unless the Pirates suddenly take a huge leap forward in their rebuilding process. Either way, they should all be able to impart some wisdom to younger players from their years in the game, with Hill being the most qualified to contribute that ability. The retirement of Albert Pujol leaves him as the oldest player at the majors.
Financially, the signing brings Pittsburgh’s payroll to $89 million, according to calculations by List resource. This actually brings the club within throwing distance of its franchise record, which was just under $100 million in 2016, according to figures from Cot’s baseball contracts. There isn’t really a long-term investment to speak of, because Ke’Bryan Hayes He’s still the only player under contract for 2024, but this winter’s crop of one-year deals represent the most aggressive additions to the squad in recent years.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
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