Rich Hill continues to throw in hopes of signing soon, he tells Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo adds that multiple teams — including one from the AL East that is not the Red Sox — have shown interest in the 45-year-old lefty.
Hill told The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser in January that he planned to continue pitching. There haven’t been any definitive reports within the past three months, but Hill evidently still hopes to reach the big leagues for a 21st consecutive season. Last year, he waited until the middle of August to agree to a minor league contract with the Red Sox (on what was his eighth different deal with Boston). The Sox called him up a couple weeks later but released him after 3 2/3 innings.
Last year’s late signing was deliberate. Hill wanted to spend time with his family early in the season, while the later signing would theoretically keep him fresh and allow him to prioritize a deal with a potential playoff team. That didn’t really work out as hoped, as Hill didn’t get much of a look on a Boston team that was only a fringe contender. He has previously suggested he could pursue more of a traditional full-season schedule this time around, though he obviously remains unsigned nearly a month after Opening Day.
Sox will sign him, the cycle will repeat and all will be as it has been
You said has been.
I thought it was in a nursing home
I need to see Rich Hill pitch in the big 2025, the bit must continue
Why
Why not?
If the Sox are signing an OLD lefty, let it be Bill Lee…
What a dumb response
Let’s go Dick Mountain!
I would bet anything and anyone the AL East team is Baltimore. They are looking for someone to make Morton feel young again.
You beat me to it. Yes, Baltimore is the place pitchers want to go to.
Hill needs to look no further than BAL. He’d easily take over as rotation ace no matter how effective he is.
If only teams were still allowed to use LOOGY’s Hill could pitch for 10 more years
The three batter rule is stupid. Having that single use pitcher was part of baseball for 100 years and with the way MLB has made the game more efficient in other ways, they should bring it back. I also still say limit a staff to 11 or 12 and when Ohtani is able to pitch he should be included in the count.
dewey – You can’t reduce the number of pitchers and add the LOOGY at the same time. LOL!
LOOGY didn’t begin until the 60’s and wasn’t really a thing until the 80’s with LaRussa and Cox.
I tell you what, figure out a way to get SP’s going more than 6 innings and I’ll make sure the Sox bring back Tony Fossas as a LOOGY ;o)
Fever, I was born in 61 so I grew up with Tom Burgmeier who could face more than just a single lefty but sometimes didn’t. Work with players who understand how to pitch as compared to the over throwers who burn their arm out. If you limit the staff, players and managers will figure it out. I’m also in favor of increasing the 40 man roster to 42 or 43 provided those extra three are allowed to explore other opportunities.
Dewey, that 1982 season, where Stanley, Clear and Burgmeier all pitched over 100 innings, won 33 games and had a collective ERA under 3 was something. Dewey also had a fine season but the team was mired in third place behind the Brewers and Orioles, even with 89 wins. Always a fan of Burgmeier and can’t believe they didn’t resign him. But then, that was Haywood Yabuzzoff Sullivan, the man who let Fisk walk. Idiot. At least there was Ralph Houk. Oh well.
dewey – I’m old enough to remember Burgie, but just barely. That was another time, another era that is never coming back because of the emphasis these days on analytics.
Even with 13-man pitching staffs, teams like the Red Sox still expand their roster by constantly calling up pitchers from AAA and then demoting them shortly after. It’s not gonna change because players get coddled way too much these days, and matchups is everything.
How many times do you think Red Sox starters have gone more than 6 innings this year?
I’ll give you a hint, Crochet leads the team by doing it just twice.
The only possible way it could change is if MLB follows through on a minimum innings requirement for starting pitchers.
You said you’re against 3-batter minimums ….. I’d like to see it increased to 5 batters, even if an inning ends before the 5th batter.
You mentioned Burgie, without ever starting a game he pitched more than 88 innings 8 times in his career and more than 95 innings 5 times. That would never have happened these days with the 13-man staffs.
FPG, I think there are guys who could pitch 80-100 innings without starting but the money isn’t in it. Hard to tell a player that he’s valuable and then not pay him. So it’s not just the analytics, it’s also the insistence on effective pitchers being subject to bidding wars for their services. I could see Whitlock in that “long reliever” role if the circumstances are right.
I think you are overvaluing the matchup mentality although I don’t doubt that it plays in decision making. Good pitching stops good hitting from succeeding. You need 27 outs, but you can’t get 27 perfect innings, so you do the best you can with what you have where you are in the game.
If you give up 3 runs, you should win. Who gives up those 3 runs and when they give them up isn’t always that important. But you do have to score 4 to win. So, when you are getting stifled by the other team’s pitchers you have a choice to make. Do you use your best guys in the hopes that the offense will come through in the end?
What I hate to see is valuable pitchers used in games that you lose. That leads to situations where you lose by more runs than you would have otherwise? So be it. Get them next time.
hayzee – I’m totally with you. When a guy like Jansen gets $32M for 100 innings over 2 years, it just doesn’t make sense when the best starting pitchers in the game get around the same amount for nearly twice as many innings. And guys like Hader and Diaz are getting quite a bit more than Jansen, so they ARE getting well paid.
If Whitlock continues pitching only every 3-4 days, he will have at least 80 innings but it’s tough not having him available for 67% of the games. And it’s hard trying to time his appearances for only high leverage situations.. So if the Sox are winning big or losing big against Cleveland Friday or Saturday, does that mean Whit goes 4 days without pitching? Or do they waste an appearance because he needs the work?
It’s Cora and some other managers overvaluing the matchups, not me! I’m just explaining why Cora likes having so many relief pitchers available. I’ll never forgive him for pulling Criswell after 4 perfect innings and replacing him with Hill just because Hill is a lefty. And I’m still grateful for the Seattle manager intentionally walking an ice-cold O’Neill to pitch to a red-hot Devers with the game on the line. The over-emphasis on matchups is absurd.
And as I’ve said before, I don’t like them using Chapman in tie games this early in the season.
Sure. Why not.
Why would you invest in a 45 year old guy who really hasn’t gotten big league hitters out for 2 years now?
Because he may STILL not be the worst pitcher an organization could start in 2025.
I mean, he very possibly could be the worst pitcher in all of MLB if he takes a turn this season, but it’s still possible he won’t be.
Besides, if he pitches for his 14th organization this year he’ll improve my chances of guessing correctly on the Immaculate Grid, where I can use a lot, a lot of help on questions like, pitched at least 1 inning for the Pirates and Angels…
Buy – To give the impression the team is trying to win.
It’s literally right out of the Red Sox playbook.
If any team could get something out of him at this point, I would think it’d be the Rays.
Definitely a live possibility. The Rays are getting a lot of bad starts presently. The negative is that at 9 and 13, if they keep it up and are nowhere near the 3rd wildcard slot, then they’ll probably prefer to look at a young guy they can use in 2026 while paying him the minimum rather than offer Hill 1.5m or whatever it may take. (Did the Pirates actually sign him for his age 43 season for $8m? The Pirates??)
Another benefit might follow from signing Hill and drawing out everything he knows about breaking stuff, filming everything he does on the mound—if they didn’t already do that in 2021.
Then again he also doesn’t seem like the kind of pitcher with enough juice left that the Rays might figure they could sign and have him start by early June, then build him up to deal him at the deadline for a useful prospect. I doubt even if he’s going well that he’s likely to be reliably better than the worst innings a contender can otherwise put together.
Still, I hope he catches on somewhere.
Dude there is nothing to fix on the guy he’s just old and no velo on the fastball has nothing to do with the organization’s just stop with the rays schtick of becuase they r so good fixinf 40+ year olds
The Rays already tried that and It was one and done, besides they currently have a glut of arms.
It.must be.nice
Being.able
To make.decisions
Like.that.
Bet he’ll just end up retiring. I can’t imagine someone taking a flyer on him at this point. It’s all smoke with “interested teams”
Orioles and Braves would be the only genuinely interested teams. No matter what Hill brings to the table he’d be an upgrade over most of those teams’ current rotation options.
Rise, old Dick Mountain!
Bet Red Sox sign “Over the Hill” Rich
If the red sox are desparate enough to sign hill, that would indicate there are some major problems with several of houck, bello, crochet, bhueler, giolito, fitts, dobbins, crawford sandovaland newcomb as believe hill slots in 11th on that list..realize some have had delayed starts and sandoval is coming off surgery ..fitts has the pec issue but hill still is 11th…if they feel the nerd to sign hill its over..look at 2026
Yeah, and I’m still planning on getting with Sabrina Carpenter and Sydney Sweeney this year.
Cash grab fever! 🎵
I think Dick is who everyone wanted Baltimore to sign as their TOR starter. lol
The Cubs could use him
Just retire already JFC
As long as teams still kick the tires and offer a contract, why not?
It’s a tale as old as Rich Hill.
He plans to pitch this year I just don’t think anyone else plans for him to pitch this year.
Mets pitching lab will rebuild him. Will make him stronger will reprogram him.
I’m sure the Orioles will get him.
Morton is 41. Hill is 45. I’m next, I’m 50 and my arm is fresh, having not pitched since 1985 when I hit 3 batters to load the bases, then struck out the side and my little league coach said “never again.” I could sell that as “effectively wild” for a few million.
Get it, Dick!
I plan on winning the lottery. Probably won’t happen though.
4 scoreless against Japan? Noice! Yankees and O’s need some pitching. Go get him!