Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly Signs With Pirates To Continue Storied Career
Up until Tuesday, three-fifths of the Boston Red Sox's 2022 Opening Day rotation sat in free agency.
Now the Red Sox reportedly will have one less option to re-sign while the club attempts to reconfigure its roster.
"Left-hander Rich Hill and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in agreement on a one-year, $8 million contract, ESPN's Jeff Passan tweeted Tuesday. "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."
Hill went 8-7 with a serviceable 4.27 ERA, 109-to-37 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.30 WHIP last season.
After the southpaw's third stint in Boston, he's spent more time with his hometown Red Sox than any other of the 11 teams he's played for (he spent four seasons with both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs).
Despite rumors of Hill wanting to stay close to home and contemplating either retiring or waiting until the Major League Baseball trade deadline to sign -- it appears as if Hill is ready to make another 162-game run on the 12th team of his career.
He'll serve as a much-need veteran for a young Pirates team that could use his leadership.
As for the Red Sox, a reunion never made much sense. Boston needs an impact pitcher. Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Wacha fit said description much better than Hill.
Hill would have served as a depth option, an area the Red Sox do not need to improve on.
They already feature Tanner Houck, Josh Winckowski, Kutter Crawford and Connor Seabold as depth options with Bryan Mata, Connor Murphy and Brandon Walter expected to elevate into reliable starters in the near future.
It's nice to see Hill continue his career but it's probably for the best that he didn't attempt to do so with the Red Sox.
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