Red Sox Reportedly Did Not Make Formal Offer To Pitcher Who Wanted To Return

Boston decided to roll the dice with new arms instead

Scott Neville | Dec 29, 2022

Red Sox Reportedly Did Not Make Formal Offer To Pitcher Who Wanted To Return /

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The Boston Red Sox lost two starters from a season ago on the same day -- one of which would have returned had they made a fair offer.

Just hours before Nathan Eovaldi signed with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, Rich Hill inked a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

WEEI's Rob Bradford reported that the Red Sox never made a formal offer to Hill despite multiple discussions.

"We’ve talked and had lunch with a few of the guys in the front office, and understand that there’s a mutual interest there," Hill told Bradford on WEEI's "Bradfo Sho" back in October. "Being able to stay home would be great."

Hill, a Massachusetts native, was on his third stint with the Red Sox and seemingly wanted to return.

The crafty left-hander wanted to spend more time with his family and even tossed around the idea of taking the first half of the season off in 2023. Instead, he'll relocate to Pittsburgh.

Hill went 8-7 with a 4.27 ERA, 109-to-37 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.30 WHIP in 124 1/3 innings across 26 starts last season.

As Hill enters his age 43 season, it made sense for the Red Sox to move on. While it might have been tough to turn down a reunion with one of the most highly regarded players in baseball, it was the right call.

Hill will take his veteran leadership to a young Pirates roster that could learn a lot from one of the smartest pitchers in Major League Baseball.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Sign Two-Time Cy-Young Winner To Bolster Rotation

Published Dec 29, 2022

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu