Former Dodger Fan Favorite Inks Deal with New Team

Former Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill signed a one-year deal with the Pirates, who will be his 12th big-league team in 19 seasons.

Rich Hill has played 18 big-league seasons, and while only four of those were spent with the Dodgers, he was and remains a fan favorite in Los Angeles. In fact, Hill has player for 11 different teams, but L.A. is the team he's thrown the most innings for, with 361.1 of his 1259 career innings coming in Dodger blue.

Hill is set to add a 19th season and 12th team to his résumé, though, as he's signed a deal with one of the few teams he's never played for before:

Left-hander Rich Hill and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in agreement on a one-year, $8 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. Hill, who turns 43 in March, is entering his 19th big league season after making 26 starts and throwing 124.1 innings for Boston this year.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 27, 2022

The 2022 season was actually Hill's third stint with the Red Sox, having pitched for them in 2010-12 and again in 2015. He pitched relatively well for a 42-year-old, going 8-7 with a 4.27 ERA in 124.1 innings. Since leaving the Dodgers after the 2019 season, Hill has pitched for the Twins, Rays, Mets, and Red Sox.

Pittsburgh has been looking for starting pitching, and Hill comes to them on a budget-friendly deal and can also provide mentorship and leadership for the young Pirates roster.

Despite the long line of injuries and ineffectiveness that have plagues Hill's career, 2023 will be the 19th consecutive season he's pitched in the big leagues. Even thought he only pitched a total of 104.2 innings from 2010-15, he pitched at least one inning in each of those six seasons — but not always much more. He threw just 4.0 innings in 2010, 8.0 in 2011, and 5.1 in 2014.

Hill's career was revived with a stint in the independent leagues in 2015, after which the Red Sox picked him up and let him be a starter again. He posted a 1.55 ERA in four starts with Boston, earning a contract with the A's the next season. After posting a 2.25 ERA in 76 innings, Oakland shipped him to L.A. at the trade deadline in 2016, and the rest is history.

Hill will be 43 years and 19 days old on Opening Day, and when he throws his first pitch of the season he'll be the 57th pitcher in baseball history to pitch at that age or older.