TODAY: The move has been officially announced by the Yankees.
February 4: The Yankees are bringing left-hander Tim Hill back on a one-year, $2.85MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Hill, a client of Paragon Sports International, will be paid $2.5MM in 2025 and has a $350K buyout on a $3MM club option for the 2026 season.
Hill, 34, opened the 2024 season with the White Sox but was released in June after being tagged for a 5.07 ERA in 23 innings with the South Siders. He turned his entire season around upon signing with the Yankees, for whom he posted a pristine 2.05 earned run average in 48 innings from mid-June through season’s end. He tossed another 8 1/3 innings during postseason play and held opponents to one run during that time.
The veteran Hill is a sidearming sinker specialist who relies far more on grounders than on missing bats. A whopping 68.2% of batted balls against Hill were grounders. Conversely, his paltry 10.7% strikeout rate was the second-lowest among all pitchers who tossed at least 40 innings in 2024. No pitcher allowed a higher contact percentage than Hill’s 88.7%, and none had a lower swinging-strike rate than Hill’s 5.7% mark. Even with the lack of missed bats, that huge ground-ball rate and a terrific 6.5% walk rate (5.2% with the Yankees) helped Hill to mitigate damage.
As one might expect from a player who so rarely misses bats, Hill yielded quite a few hits in 2024. Opponents batted .290 against him — an average of 10.3 hits per nine innings pitched. However, the overwhelming majority were singles. Hill faced 291 hitters and only yielded nine extra-base hits (seven doubles and two homers). He was more effective against lefties than righties, but neither hit for any power against him. Southpaw swingers hit .273/.321/.322, while righties hit .303/.352/.352. Hill’s penchant for allowing contact could theoretically get him into trouble, but with so many singles, so few walks and so many grounders, he saw eight double plays induced behind him; only 11 relievers in all of MLB generated more (five of whom also simply pitched more innings).
Prior to their agreement with Hill, the Yankees didn’t have a lefty projected to be in the bullpen. They didn’t even have a left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster. He’ll now join a relief corps headlined by trade acquisition Devin Williams but also featuring Luke Weaver, Ian Hamilton, Fernando Cruz (another trade pickup), Mark Leiter Jr. and JT Brubaker. Jonathan Loaisiga, on the mend from last year’s April UCL procedure, will join the group eventually but could open the season on the 60-day injured list.
The bullpen could expand further if and when the Yankees trade Marcus Stroman, who they’ve been shopping throughout the winter. The roster would have six starters if the season began today, but a trade of Stroman will thin out the rotation and perhaps free up some money to bring in another lefty and/or add the infielder the Yankees have sought this offseason.
Adding Hill’s guarantee to the books pushes the Yankees’ projected cash payroll to just over $285MM, per RosterResource. They’re already in the top tier of luxury penalization, which means Hill will come with a 110% tax against the $2.85MM AAV of his contract. That weighs in at a $3.135MM tax hit, bringing the total expenditure for re-signing Hill to $5.985MM. RosterResource now has the Yankees’ luxury ledger at a bit more than $305MM. Of course, trading Stroman could reduce that bill substantially, though there’s no feasible way that the Yankees would duck the tax entirely (or even scale their overages back to less than $40MM, which would be required to avoid the penalty that drops next year’s top draft pick by 10 spots).
About time!!!
I really thought they had signed him already. It seemed inevitable.
Really surprised he was signed by another club for a bit more. Sometimes you pay a little extra to hurt your competition. I’m not saying $10M but $3.5m or guaranteeing the second year might have been enough.
Good move Yanks!
Amen!
Stroman for Suarez?
Your junk contract for their closer who is getting paid less. Not happening. Stroman for a PTBNL, along with $10MM for this year and $15MM in 2026 should the option vest.
I wonder why that took so long to get done?
“Took so long”..Other, bigger priorities by the Yankees. Big fish are almost always more coveted than smaller fish.
So it took time to set the hook, you are saying?
I heard Mr Krabbs laughing in my head when I read this
hey so all of the Yankees big moves happened over a month ago. the tim hill signing did take unusually long for such a small deal
@mlb
Obvi the Yanks did some heavy lifting already. What I meant was the two were an obvious fit, and the money seems pretty light to me.
“Some heavy lifting already”..Yep, definitely an obvious fit. I just assume the time it took was filled with doing due diligence(both player’s agent & team’s GM)on several other potential acquisitions.
I imagine there’s also plenty of other nuances(player medical reviews etc..)that we as fans don’t even know about.
As the article states hill allows alot of contact. While it hasn’t translated to power numbers as of yet, one has to believe it will eventually start to especially if that sinker stops sinking
It’s the supposed reason Boone brought Cortes in instead of Hill to face Ohtani/Betts/Freeman. He wanted more potential swing and miss.
Another example of the Dodgers’ scouting report coming to be. Boone didn’t want the ball in play, and went with a rusty starter vs. a good reliever to try and avoid stressing his defense with several runners on.
agree. imagine having such a shaky defense that you’ll do anything to avoid a ground ball
And Betts and Freeman had already taken Hill deep in previous at-bats in their careers….
@diff @dasit
I watched an interview with nine Boone, and it was simpler than that. The rules require a relief pitcher to pitch to at least 3 batters. Hill does not pitch as well to RH as he does LH. Boone was hoping Cortez could get past Ohtani and go up against Betts and Freeman, not RH. The decision made sense but just didn’t result in the way he wished.
I think the team is banking on that sinker continuing to be good. Soft contact is as good as no contact at all, sometimes better
I hope so, some are really good for a long time. Others go the way of Dakota Hudson, you never know. Hill has had a few good seasons recently. Last year after going to the Yankees he found it after struggling all year with the white sox, club house culture perhaps?
Bullpen arms are known to vary from year to year. Hill has been decent three years running
Historically, there are guys like Hill who get told by the team early on that they’re a very safe bet to be re-signed, but that there are other priority positions/players that need to be figured out first and need all the front office’s attention and once those are sorted out, the team will circle back to that player who’s deal is going to be smaller, less complicated, etc. and basically since the player knows there won’t be much of a feeding frenzy for their services, they trust in the process and wait for the team to ping them and let them know its time to hammer out their crumb sized deal, make it official.
And lets be honest- a deal that will max out at 2 years/$5.5M with maybe a few small perks or no perks at all, but is still gonna take a few days to hammer out and will be a relatively lucrative windfall for that player *should* be put on the back burner until the massively complex, detailed negotiations and courtships of the eight and nine figure, multiple year commitment contracts other players will be commanding get settled.
Knicksfan, likely he was hoping for a two year deal and had to settle for one.
I’m guessing they wanted most of the contract deferred, and he held out for PAY ME NOW!
I’m guessing they had a tentative agreement at the end of the playoffs or before much of the offseason went by, as we’ve found out over the years that they tend to do with veteran players whose contributions they value, and who are comfortable with the team. Guys that know they’re not the first priority for the team’s budget are often content to sit around and wait for an offer from the classiest organization in the majors, once they figure out where their books are, after the heavy lifting is done. If he didn’t like the terms, he’s a quality, lefty reliever, so he’d get a job with playing time somewhere, for sure.
Yankees : Tim, we’d love to bring you back so you can face the top lefty hitters in the biggest spots.
Tim Hill : Um……
Someone has to go from the 40 man roster. Assume it will be Roansy Contreras or Yoendrys Gomez since they don’t have options remaining.
Neither does Brubaker but assume he’s the 8th man/swingman/long RP when they trade Stroman and IL Loaisiga.
Probably wait a week until pitchers & catchers report to move some to 60 day
Neither does Peraza.
@YBC – Have to think they’ll keep him unless they upgrade significantly at 3b.
I thought their 40 man was only at 39 right now?
Tim Hill is now the 40th man on the roster, they might get one additional spot during spring training if they decide to place Loaisiga on the 60 day IL
It was a tough Hill to climb but it’s done. Ahahahaha!
Okay. what about Moncada or someone for 3B to complete the roster? I don’t trust DJL
NOBODY does! Ahahahahaha!
Absolutely No to Moncada
He’ll probably do just fine, although 4.2 k per nine is a little reason for concern. I know ground balls are his calling card. Either way, not much of a risk for the price!
It’s always a concern with low K rates but the Yankees, on paper, have improved their infield defense over last season. And this is without knowing who is playing second or thirdbase. Wells will be better than Trevino at threatening runners which is a certainty.
I agree! and I still think it’s a good signing (especially with the club option.) Hill is that guy that you call on when you need a double play to end an inning.
if peraza wins a starting role the infield d will be improved. if djlm/oswaldo are platooning at third and jazz is moved back to second not sure how much better they will be considering goldschmidt is worse than even the post-concussion version of rizzo
“Every day Timmy” was his nickname in SD. Fan favorite and def has a role on a staff.
That’s a really reasonable price, and his salary for 2026 would also be a pretty good price. Blake definitely worked his magic on Hill last season, very good move.
I’m done complaining. Thanks, Brian!
Agree, this wraps things up with a bow on it.
Still sad over Kahnle. Dissapointed I won’t get to see his bulging leg muscles under those magnificent tight pants when I watch YES Network.
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Good move, an obvious one, but we needed him back. They finally got something done in February. Hopefully they’ll be another move for a third base so the team can be complete.
Hill back on the hill.
There we go! I like the option for 26, if he’s good we easily bring him back without all this wait and guesswork.
Now can we haz one more, pleeez?
Settle down. Who do you think the Yankees are?! The Dodgers?
Lolz, we have needs, man!!! But maybe today’s the day.
National Lefty Day.
One more lefty would be great in case he gets hurt or flops. If there are any more out there.
I’m hoping a Stroman trade can bring another one.
Stroman unfollowed the Yankees on Instagram a week ago so I’m anxiously awaiting the sassy and sarcastic social media post from him when he eventually gets traded.
How many Lefties do the Yankees have in the pen at this point?
The Red Sawx and Orioles are loaded Lefty lineups. Should have at least 2 guys in the pen for NYY…
Hill is the first one in their 40-man roster. The rest are projected starters.
I think Cashman’s stubborn streak is particularly built up around the idea that he’s so good at his job, and his analytics department is so unsurpassed, that he can select a team where handedness doesn’t matter. We saw it for a long time with the lineup, and when I’m guessing Boone, or the players, or both, complained long and hard enough, he broke down, only to reinstitute it in the bullpen, where the players don’t have as much sway in the clubhouse.
Chafin is still out there. They list the available lefties in the Twins signing Coloumbe article. Just an FYI since you were wondering, Ghost.
Actually, it’s Salzilla, in the comment section that listed all the available lefties. It was the Coloumbe article though.
Yes chafin ,beeks and poche i think are the only half way decent lefty relievers available
Ok, Yankees fans want to dump Stroman. Send Marcus and 18 mil (essentially 1/2 his salary since he is highly likely to hit 140 innings and vest option) to SD for Wanda Peralta.
SD gets a #5 SP and NY gets another Lh option out of pen.
SD on the hook for a possible 18 option in 26 but he is free in 25 which helps. Wandy saves 4.2 which can be used for Iglesias or similar guy to fill out roster.
SD has a few AAA BP options ready.
Peralta is actually a logical target. Although I would halve the $ so both teams share the risk of either contract.
I’m not saying that a normal trade might follow that logic but in this setting, SD is taking 1/2 of Stroman’s deal with the nearly guaranteed option.
Also, SD isn’t likely to he shopping Wandy and well, NY is really trying to dump Stroman so, I think it’s a “get something useful” for NY type of trade.
Otherwise, SD can find a cheap #5 on the streets – a lot less cheaper than 9 mil in 25 and 18 mil in 26. Quantrill, Turnbull, Heaney, etc. all cheaper and probably no worse than MS the past 2 years version anyway.
If NY said no, I’m good too.
‘cept SD is supposedly looking for was to cut payroll…
although that could be offseason fireless smoke (AKA bad journalism), and with Preller at the helm, you never know what’s going to happen anyway.
The positive: Fits seamlessly into the pen and showed the chops for a high attention environment.
The negative: A constant reminder of a mediocre Boone’s penchant for bonehead decisions.
boonehead
Meh, you’d be blaming Boone anyway for bringin Hill in to give up back-to-back singles to Ohtani and Betts….
That’s a lot of dots. Are you visualizing the procedure before taking the leap from toupee to hair transplant surgery?
If you looked at Ohtani, Betts and Freeman’s career stats against Hill as opposed to Cortes, you wudda brought in Cortes too. Hindsight is 20/20….
Cortes had good #s vs Ohtani, that’s why Boone went w/em.
More dot fantasies. Just get the plugs already man.
You really sound like Boonies predecessor, Girardi, a.k.a. the Binder.
Hill had been lights out all post season and Cortes hadn’t pitched in over a month. Unsure if you actually watched?
Hill pitched poorly in Game 1 of each series… Ohtani, Betts, Freeman’s career numbers against Cortes going into that game are like Aaron Judge in the postseason (below .700 OPS)… Ohtani, Betts, Freeman’s career numbers against Hill is like Aaron Judge in the regular season (well above 1.000 OPS)… Jerry Hairston Jr’s Toupee is correct, if Boone brought in Hill instead of Cortes, he probably blows the game anyway – but in THAT case, the Yankees would have reasonable grounds to fire him.
@28rings. Lmao bud. Tim Hill gave up 1 ER in 8 1/3 playoff IP with opponents cumulatively OPS’ing well under .600 (.533).
You use Cortes in long relief, whether you are down or up by a wide margin after not having pitched in 6 weeks. Again, your A) making up scenarios and B) using the binder method over common sense.
Check your math, Bud Lite.
Tim Hill only pitched 5 2/3 playoff IP, not 8 1/3… he gave up 1 ER but more importantly he allowed an inherited runner to score & got a blown save.
Ohtani / Betts / Freeman career numbers going into World Series VS.:
Nestor Cortes: 3 for 20, 1 2B 0 RBI, 1DP 2K’s .150 AVG/.150 OBP/.200 SLG/.350 OPS
Tim Hill: 6 for 16, 1 HR 3 RBI, 0DP 2K’s .375 AVG/.444 OBP/.563 SLG/1.007 OPS
If they weren’t going to use him, he shouldn’t have been on the roster. You make it sound like it was the first time he picked up a ball. Does rehabbing not count? Bullpens? Simulated games? They thought he was ready.
Now this time let him pitch to Freeman.
Boone really likes that Cortes vs. Freeman matchup. I wish we brought back Hill and not Boone! Freaking clown.
@Lark
Keep in mind the rule regarding relief pitchers having to face 3 batters when they come in. He preferred Cortez to come in and get the left outand then gave 2 righties.
They were looking at the Dodgers top-3 stats against Cortes vs Hill in their careers. Ohtani, Betts and Freeman completely owned Hill in the past while Cortes had shut them down. It is what it is….
Keep in mind that Cortes hadn’t faced live hitters in 40 days because his elbow was torn up. Another important thing to remember is that there were two outs in the inning. Hill would have only had to retire Freeman and then could have been replaced by another pitcher the next inning.
Cortes got the second out. Three batter minimum. Hill wudda been brought in with one out to face Ohtani. Cortes got him in one pitch. Unfortunately, they dint mix up pitches and gave Freeman the same pitch that he saw on the steps of the dugout. Again, it is what it is. Delusional Yank fans think they cudda won….
The reality is that this isn’t the only bad pitching decision Boone has ever made. He is notorious for mishandling the staff and this was just a glaring example in a huge spot. Boone sucks even if Cortes strikes Freeman out.
spot on, his entire Yankees 10 year reeks of it unfortunately!
Not a delusional Yankee fan that thinks we could have won. I am a realistic Yankee fan that has watched Boone be the worst manager in MLB since he was hired. I would have lived with Hill giving up the lead. I don’t even care that the Yankees lost that series. I’m more concerned that Boone is still in a position to make those decisions. He is so bad. I am envious of teams that don’t have to beat the other team and their manager as well.
Boone’s moves are all pre-determined by Cashman and his stat geeks.
There is no way that “Cashman and his stat geeks” told Boone to pitch Cortes in that situation. All the numbers said Hill in that situation. That was Boone’s gut telling him that he liked that match up. Boone gets handed 90 wins by his GM. He is the worst manager in MLB.
Catch-22 for Boone, man. Hill gives up alotta singles, and the top-3 of the Dodgers’ lineup have no problem hitting singles. Yank fans wudda been cryin either way. But living in alternate realities always softens the blow….
Going with the Hill, who just pitched his but off in the previous two series, would not have made me as upset. At least he is a reliever who hadn’t just missed the past 40 days with an elbow injury. Boone tried to get cute, and it exploded in his face. You dance with who brought you.
And if Hill lost it, you’d be blaming Boone for not letting Cortes close it out. I suppose I’d blame Roberts if Buehler pooped the bed too. Ahahahahahaha!!!!!
If this guy could pitch for 35 years he’d help his team win one more game.
It’s surprising the NYY don’t have three or five guys in the minors who could do about the same job for MLB minimum, plus maybe even strike out a few dudes. Call me crazy.
When you only have so many options, brining those guys up before they are ready can be complicated. Not only did we get Tim Hill, but we bought some options on our AAA and AA arms.
Is Stroman ever going to get traded so we can attempt to upgrade 3rd base or 2nd base?
We might have to wait for a team to have an injury to their rotation. We are also going to have to eat most of his salary anyway, so that isn’t really the path to an infield upgrade.
Watch, for all the trade chatter all off-season Stroman will end up staying for lack of suitor n end up having good yr in pinestripes.
Dodgers were known to be bidding for Hill as well. Their offer was $100 in Lowes gift cards and $10mm deferred, starting the next time Halley’s Comet appears.
Now time for Verdugo’s 16 years/$840M deal. Let’s get it done, Yanks!
In all seriousness-I have noticed that Stroman has dropped anything Yankees from his social. He seems to know they’re trying to trade him/have no faith in him and he’s mentally moved on from them.
Better late than never. Now all they need is an infielder. Not wishing him ill but DJ is dead weight at this point. Sadly he’ll be rostered for months before his late summer release…
@Jersey. DJL should be priority number one to unload, then Stroman
Mlb: No one will take DJL. Stroman is worth 10-12 million so we can pay him down a bit or do a Hal move and include a useful prospect to get a trade done. We owe 30 mil to DJL so they’re gonna hope for a dead cat bounce or dump him around August (assuming he’s not hurt).
If Hal only listened to me I have a way of dropping the payroll almost 40m.
First off trade Stroman contract but be willing to eat money on the contract. As long as you move the contract you move the cap hit!
Send him to any pitching needy team with 5m for international money.
Then send Will Warren, Clayton Beeter, Jorbit Vivas and DJL contract with 10m plus Grisham 5m contract to Chicago WS for international money.
This frees up 38 plus million.
Now give DJL roster spot to Peraza and Grisham spot to Everson Pereira.
Younger more athletic team and roster flexibility.
Dump the farm of possible MLB-ready players to shed payroll? What happens when injuries occur and there is no one left to fill in or available to use for a trade? Use Spencer Jones or Chase Hampton to get a spot starter or utility player?
If they pay part of Stroman’s contract, the part they pay still counts against their luxury tax number.
Ok so than add a prospect to any Stroman deal
Send Stroman with Jorbit Vivas to a team like Oakland.
Than send DJ with Warren, Better, and another prospect to a team rebuilding like the white Sox.
Trading Grisham 5m should not be difficult at all.
Forget Arenado if you want to move 40m to get under that cap threshold. Use Peraza and Cabrera as a third base platoon and wait until the deadline to reassess team needs.
billy: Come on bro. DJ has no trade value and using some of our better prospects would be a bad idea. Speaking of bad… Pereira isn’t trusted by the brass to play CF and he can’t hit. Think Florial minus the defense.
Cashman has made so many bad decisions with Stroman, Rodon, even DJ who I love but that contract was over the top. Hicks was another awful contract. He’s saddled the team with bad contracts. The talent does not equate to the salary cap.
That is all Hal bro. He loves structuring the deals to lower the AAV, he hates paying the tax. DJL and Hicks were both spread out because Hal didn’t want to nut up and pay the larger salary for less years.
Stroman isn’t nearly as bad a deal as you seem to imagine it. They’re about 6 million per year underwater after his middling 2024 season. Perhaps if the team had better infield D Stoman’s results would be a bit better.
Why would they give up young talent for $’s they can afford to eat?
How about instead of shedding money the Yankees generate more money all they need to do is throw an extra sponsor patch or two on their uniforms and maybe come up with an alternative uniform for special occasions like the other teams have fans will spend a ton of money on them and those little patches will generate millions in sponsorship.
It’s about time.
I feel bad for Hill. When the carriage turns back in to a pumpkin, Yank fans will have the pitchforks out….
Relievers are a funky lot….while many tend too regress after successful years, or the inverse have great success when turning the page on a new year or new team, the really great ones seem to have success year after year….my point is not that Hill is a truly great one, but given matchups, score, defense behind them, and how often they are used, its entirely possible that Hill may have what could be deemed as a successful year or he as you say not be as effective as in 2024…..only next season will tell.
Cope….
Bonehead Boone should have pitched Hill against Freeman in the World Series instead of Cortes. Maybe we could have won that game.
If you look at Ohtani, Betts and Freeman’s career stats against Hill, you’d understand that Hill was gunna lose that game too….
We’ll never know now will we….
Well we know cuz who’s ’24 champs. Enjoy living in alternate reality bizarro world. Sorry not sorry…..
Ahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
I like loosey goosey Tim Hill and the way he slings that sidearm stuff. He wasn’t phased in the least by pitching under pressure in big games.
For those rosterologists who wonder whether the Yankee 40-man is at 39 or 40 before the addition of Hill, I have a challenge and a clue for you. Please find me a current Yankee roster at any level (major 40-man, AAA, AA, A+, low A, or FCL) that contains the name “Alex Jackson..” For bonus points, explain how the presence or absence came to be. I have been studying Yankees rosters in detail for more than 50 years, and I have never encountered any rule that explains how, without a release, retirement, or DFA, a player contract can simply disappear following a trade.
Alex Jackson is not on the 40-man roster. He signed a minor league contract with the Reds last November and was traded in December along with Fernando Cruz for Jose Trevino. The Reds didn’t add him nor have the Yankees. He’ll presumably share time with JC Escarra in AAA.
I personally think its a good move to bring Hill back by Yankees. I believe Hill’s most valuable asset is his fire and competitiveness. From what I have seen from him it with NY it is obvious he cares about winning. Teams need players like that on their roster.
Righties t-off on him.
I’m guessing they had a tentative agreement at the end of the playoffs or before much of the offseason went by, as we’ve found out over the years that they tend to do with veteran players whose contributions they value, and who are comfortable with the team. Guys that know they’re not the first priority for the team’s budget are often content to sit around and wait for an offer from the classiest organization in the majors, once they figure out where their books are, after the heavy lifting is done. If he didn’t like the terms, he’s a quality, lefty reliever, so he’d get a job with playing time somewhere, for sure.
Hill would be silly to believe any team telling him to sit tight and wait. How do you explain Trent Grisham’s signing right out of the free agency gate? He was already control through arbitration. We saw them do that with vets like Brett Gardner and Zach Brittom who had been with the team for several years. Tim Hill is a journeyman who was there for one season and is a low priority.
It happens all the time on the Yankees. Brett Gardner’s last few years as more of a bench bat, defensive, and injury replacement were a clear and repeated example, but they’ve done it plenty of times with other minor role players or smaller contracts over the last decade or so. I’m sure the team didn’t expect exclusivity, if someone else came in and blew him away, there’d be no hurt feelings if he took the bigger offer. If you’re a creature of any significant tenure, you should know this.
If you’re referring to guys like Loisaiga, Brubaker, and Efross, sure. But they also don’t have a ton of leverage being rehabbing players.
Trent Grisham wasn’t a free agent
I approve of this deal
I know this was inevitable. However, were there any other LHP possibly slightly better willing to sign for the same price?
Now that Hill has been signed, I hope that rumors Cease.