Padres Trade for Veteran Starting Pitcher Rich Hill in Pirates Deal, per Report

The 43-year-old is joining his 13th MLB franchise in his 19th season in the big leagues.

In some late MLB trade deadline action, the Padres and Pirates agreed to a deal that will send veteran starting pitcher Rich Hill and first baseman Ji-Man Choi to San Diego, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

In exchange for the duo, Pittsburgh is set to receive a package of prospects headlined by left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf, who ranks as the Padres’ No. 16 prospect, per MLB Pipeline. Also joining the Pirates’ farm system will be Estuar Suero, a 17-year-old outfield prospect, and minor-league first baseman Alfonso Rivas, per MLB.com.

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San Diego will be the 13th team Hill has played for across his 19-year career in the big leagues and the sixth organization he’s been in since 2020. He’s tied for second all-time with Octavio Dotel as the player who has featured for the most teams in league history, trailing only Edwin Jackson (14). 

Hill will join a starting rotation consisting of Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, and Seth Lugo. Michael Wacha is on the 15-day IL and has not pitched since the start of July. 

In 2023, Hill, who is 43 years old and the oldest player in MLB, has registered 22 starts, logging a 4.76 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 119.0 innings. 

As for Choi, the 32-year-old was sidelined at the start of the year due to an injury. He’s featured in 23 games for the Pirates this season, slashing .205/.224/.507 with six home runs and 11 RBI.