Rich Hill, who spent some time with the New York Yankees in his long MLB career, is still looking to get back on the mound for the 2024 season, which would be his 20th. The left-hander has enjoyed plenty of success in a variety of roles for various different franchises, but after struggling with the Pirates and Padres last season, he’s remained unsigned on the free-agent market. That’s not particularly surprising given his age and the 8.23 ERA he had following the trade deadline, but he’s garnering interest from the Yankees and Dodgers according to Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe.
A head-scratching free-agent target, he would have to be considered MiLB depth for their Triple-A team rather than an actual Major League option.
Rich Hill Receiving Interest From the Yankees and Dodgers
Although it was just 5.1 innings, Rich Hill did spend time as a New York Yankee in 2014, one of the many teams he’s played for in recent seasons. The southpaw has also spent time with the Los Angeles Dodgers who he was mightily successful from 2016-2019 when he made two different World Series runs and pitched to an excellent 3.16 ERA with 427 strikeouts.
That was over half a decade ago, and he’s nowhere near the starter he was back then when he was a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation arm. His fastball averaged under 90 MPH of velocity, and there’s no feasible way to look at Hill as anything other than a Minor League depth starter regardless of who signs him.
It’s interesting to see two serious contenders in the Dodgers and Yankees show interest in him considering both teams are looking to acquire arms at the deadline for their rotation and bullpen, so perhaps this is a way to fill out their MiLB depth chart after they deal some arms from that pool to get Major League upgrades.
Still, this is a puzzling situation given that Rich Hill is 44 years old, an age where you very rarely see players in consideration for MLB roster spots. Father time comes for everyone, and after last season, it looks like it may have finally caught up to Rich Hill, who had his worst ERA since 2013.