Rich Hill Rumors

Discussion: Rich Hill

Rich Hill was a late bloomer for the Cubs. The lefty with the Bugs Bunny curveball always had big strikeout rates in the minors, but started to get a handle on his control in '05 at age 25. That year he whiffed 194 against 35 walks in 130.6 innings across three levels. Hill's Triple A dominance continued the following year, when he struck out 135 and walked 21 in 100 innings. He was promoted to the bigs and showed promise in 16 starts, aside from some ill-advised comments in May. 2007 was Hill's breakout season - he made 32 starts...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Orioles, Rangers, Nationals

Let us entertain you between World Series games... Pitcher Rich Hill, outfielder Jeff Fiorentino and catcher Guillermo Rodriguez all rejected a minor league assignment by the Orioles and elected free agency instead. Alfredo Simon, who was also removed from the 40-man roster last week, accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. Hill could draw some interest this winter. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan reports that former Colorado manager Clint Hurdle is likely to be the next hitting coach of the Rangers. Don Mattingly passed on a chance to interview for Washington's managerial opening, according to Alden Gonzalez and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Hawkins, Uribe, Hill, Hazen

Here's a few links to end the night... MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets that Astros GM Ed Wade said the team "is talking with LaTroy Hawkins, who wanted to see who the manager was going to be first." Hawkins will be a free agent this offseason for the fourth time in as many years. Juan Uribe has informed the Giants that he plans to test the market, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Mercury News. MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko reports that the Orioles outrighted three players off their 40-man roster, including southpaw Rich Hill. Meanwhile, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince says the Indians outrighted...   Continue Reading

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Cafardo's Latest: Manny, Sheets, Glavine

The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo shares some notes on Manny Ramirez and around the league. Let's have a look, bullet-point style: He cites an AL Exec who says, "I'll be honest, I never thought Ramirez would walk away from... one year, $25 million. That's better than the $20 million option he had torn up... If he has another great year, he gets another $25 million for one year? Or maybe a team then decides, 'OK, this guy has behaved himself for a while, continues to produce at a high level now, let's commit for another two years to him.' Unless...   Continue Reading

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Orioles Acquire Rich Hill

10:36am: According to a press release from the Cubs, they've traded Hill to the Orioles for a player to be named later. A sensible low-risk move for the Orioles, who can afford to let Hill take his lumps at the big league level. The AL East may not be the ideal environment for him, but it's worth a shot. Roch Kubatko says Brian Burres was designated for assignment to make room for Hill. 10:16am: We learned yesterday from Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun that the Orioles are close to acquiring pitcher Rich Hill from the Cubs for a player...   Continue Reading

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Orioles Close To Deal With Cubs For Hill

9:41pm: Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun has more on the Orioles trading for Cubs pitcher Rich Hill. The deal would be for a player to be named later, Zrebiec writes, and it could be announced as early as Monday. Hill will be reunited with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn, who worked with him in the Cubs' organization, Zrebiec notes. Hill is out of options, so he'll have to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster or they could lose him. ... Hill will be given an opportunity to win a spot in the rotation, which currently...   Continue Reading

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Perrotto's Latest: Position Battles, Roberts, Pudge

John Perrotto's Every Given Sunday column is up over at Baseball Prospectus. This week, he takes a look at some of the position battles teams will face entering Spring Training. And, as always, there's some interesting items in his Rumors & Rumblings section. Let's take a look: Some of the more interesting position battles mentioned: 1B/DH/RF in Oakland (Daric Barton, Jack Cust, Jason Giambi, Aaron Cunningham, and Travis Buck all in the mix), Tampa's closer if Troy Percival gets hurt or falters (Dan Wheeler, J.P. Howell, Grant Balfour), and the White Sox rotation behind John Danks, Mark Buerhle, and Gavin...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Mets Payroll, Reds, Rangers

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone. Some Odds & Ends: Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star thinks the Royals should trade for Rich Hill. Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News estimates the Mets payroll to be $135MM this season, before Freddy Garcia or the $2.25MM owed to Willy Randolph. River Ave. Blues has a nice write up on the non-guaranteed nature of arbitration and the process of declining arbitration to free agents. The Dallas Morning News' Anthony Andro peers into the future of the Rangers, ranked atop Baseball America's organizational rankings. Writes Andro, "Since the magazine began rankings...   Continue Reading

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Cafardo's Latest: Players Out Of Options

Lots of stuff in Nick Cafardo's column in the Boston Globe to go over. With around 100 free agents vying for less than 20 remaining roster spots, things become more interesting with 227 players on big-league rosters who are out of options. If a player is out of options and is not rostered, he has to either be traded or designated for assignment. If designated, that player has to clear waivers. This could affect remaining free agent signings. Cafardo makes note of a few who are out of options and may wind up as trade fodder or designated for assignment...   Continue Reading

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Looper A Fit For Baltimore?

3:35pm: Roch Kubatko chimes in on the Looper rumors: "[W]hile I still expect Braden Looper to sign elsewhere, the Orioles retain serious interest in him." 1:18pm: Peter Schmuck at the Baltimore Sun has a guess at the Orioles' likely 25-man roster for Opening Day 2009. Most of the names are hard to argue, but one jumps out as an interesting pick. Schmuck thinks the Orioles stand a chance at signing free agent starting pitcher Braden Looper. Says Schmuck, "I think the likelihood of Braden Looper signing here is maybe 40 percent, but that's probably more likely than Rich Hill coming...   Continue Reading

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