Padres Newest Trade Deadline Addition Has No Plans of Retiring

He wants to stick around for another season.
Padres Newest Trade Deadline Addition Has No Plans of Retiring
Padres Newest Trade Deadline Addition Has No Plans of Retiring /
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The San Diego Padres made their trade plans known early on deadline day when they surprisingly acquired LHP Rich Hill and 1B Ji-Man Choi from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early hours of the August 1 deadline.

Hill was added to fortify the rotation, while Choi would provide some much-needed depth at first base as a lefty hitter.

The additions of Hill and Choi kicked off a busy deadline day that saw the Padres also add Garrett Cooper, Sean Reynolds and Scott Barlow before the day was done.

Despite coming into the deadline under .500, the Padres clearly wanted to buy, and did that with five new additions.

The additions will obviously help the Padres in the immediate, as the team hopes to reach the postseason against all odds. However, considering the prospects the Padres gave up, I'm sure they'd love to get more than just a half season of production out of their new players.

And, for what it's worth, Hill, who's on an expiring contract at the young age of 43 years old, isn't plan on retiring after this season.

If Hill has a nice couple of months in San Diego, he could elect to return for his 20th season in the league.

The Padres are Hill's 13th career team, and we'll see if he finds a home in San Diego over the next handful of months.

Hill's immediate role is unclear, but he's exclusively been a starting pitcher since 2015, so expect him to remain in that role for the last few months of the 2023 season in San Diego.

And apparently, expect to see him back for season No. 20 next year, too. 


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Noah Camras
NOAH CAMRAS

Noah graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in sports media studies. He is the lead editor for Inside the Padres. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, and has covered all Southern California sports in his career.