Rich Hill has already emphatically stated that he’ll be back for 2022, a season in which he’ll be 42 years old. But would the Red Sox be interested in a reunion with the Massachusetts native? “There is an interest, without a doubt,” Hill told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. “There’s a need on the other end. [But] the need for starting pitching is very apparent throughout the league — not just in Boston. It’s also many other clubs that need it.”
The lefty is certainly correct about the demand throughout the league, as starting pitchers have been flying off the shelves so far this offseason. In just over three weeks since free agency began, Eduardo Rodriguez, Justin Verlander, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Anthony DeSclafani and Andrew Heaney have all been inked already, with Alex Wood reportedly close to signing as well. Despite his age, Hill figures to garner lots of interest as well, given his solid 2021 campaign. His tally of 158 2/3 innings was the second-highest of his career, trailing only the 195 innings he logged as a 27-year-old in 2007. Between the Rays and Mets last year, he put up an ERA of 3.86 with a strikeout rate of 22.7% and walk rate of 8.3%, producing 1.7 fWAR in the process.
The Red Sox have already lost Eduardo Rodriguez to the Tigers, leaving them with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck, with Connor Seabold, Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock among the options for the back end. There’d certainly be room to add Hill into the mix, though whether they prefer Hill to some other options on the market remains to be seen.
More tidbits from around the league…
- After an excellent 258-game stretch with the Twins over three different seasons, Nelson Cruz was traded to the Rays before last year’s deadline. Although the club isn’t completely ruling out a reunion, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the top of their to-do list this winter. Dan Hayes of The Athletic spoke to GM Thad Levine about the situation. “In a most ideal case, when you’re building a roster you would like to have a DH spot as an open position to rotate guys through and give them a partial day of rest,” he said. “We have chosen to go a different route in each of the last couple seasons because we felt we had an elite DH.” As noted by Hayes, the club is going to be primarily focused on pitching for now, which makes sense given that they’ve lost Jose Berrios to trade, Michael Pineda to free agency and Kenta Maeda to Tommy John surgery. Cruz also struggled after being traded to the Rays, hitting .226/.283/.442, for a wRC+ of 96, raising questions about how productive he will be as a 41-year-old in 2022. But Levine still left the door open a crack, saying they “want to keep the DH spot open to allow for a bunch of players to rotate through that position, unless something exceptional comes our way, at which point we’d have to review it.”
- Bud Black is heading into his sixth season as the skipper of the Rockies, which is also the final year of his current contract. In a recent mailbag, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post says he heard that extension talks were ongoing, but that he “checked that out with general manager Bill Schmidt, who told me that wasn’t true. Schmidt added, however, that talks with Black are certainly possible in the coming months.” Schmidt was the VP of scouting with the Rockies from 2007 until May of 2021. At that point, he was named interim GM, in the wake of the resignation of Jeff Bridich, before officially getting the job last month. As he enters his first offseason in the GM chair, it’s unclear whether he considers Black to be part of the future he envisions for the franchise. Black, 64, has a record of 349-359 in his time with the Rockies and an overall record of 998-1072 when combined with his nine seasons with the Padres.
You know the world still functions if Rich Hill is still pitching
This made me nod in agreement
Sorry but signing a 42-year-old with a long history of time spent on the IL is like playing Russian Roulette. It’s fine for a non-contender, but not something a contender should risk.
Rodon is the guy I want.
Any interested team knows Hill cannot be seen as an every five days starter. He stretches out a rotation at this point in his career, and he does it well.
“fine for a non-contender”
How’s that work. A team thats not trying to win this year, brings in a 42 year old? Thats not how it works. Where ever Hill lands, it will be a contender.
How does it work? Non-contenders who want an experienced pitcher that can be a mentor to all the young guys on the team, and can eat innings, and can be flipped at the trade deadline for a decent prospect or two if he pitches well enough.
Why are there so many people that think Bud Black is some kind of good manager? His career record has him 74 games below .500. He could start next season with a 73 game winning streak and still be a loser.
Black is the only one in Rockies management that has any type of a clue. If he is gone they easily lose 100.
Please refer to Rich Hill by his proper name, Dick Mountain, probably the greatest “players weekend” jersey of all time!!
bud black will be a popular manager candidate.. hope maddon retires for his friend to step in.
I doubt that many managers would have squeezed better than Bud Black’s 349-359 won-loss record out of the last six seasons of Rockies’ rosters especially when compared to the rosters of other division rivals.
I was shocked too
Two playoff teams with mediocre squads. Then mostly older players and scrubs.
Hill is a nice addition for half a season and would be fine if Houck or Whitlock needs time in the minors
or if the Sox have no interest in truly contending in 2022 but heck Hill would probably fit in their budget
“if the Sox have no interest in contending”. Heard that many times last year. Maybe the Red Sox non-contend into the WS this year.
dennyd – You and I got as many rings last year as the Red Sox, we also got just as many Division Championships. But hey lets give them a participation trophy and $300M in profits to the owners.
GO TEAM!!!
Did you get an invitation to compete in the playoff last year KD? I didn’t. Red Sox got to send the Yankees and Rays home for the year too. Neither of us got to do that either. In fact they got further than 26 fo the 29 other teams.
I’d call that ‘contending’, but if they won the WS in 5 games, you’d cry they failed because it wasn’t a sweep.
Time to be polite here when the urge to go low is barking at me. Truth is the Sox need pitching and where it comes from makes no difference to me. Hill showed last year he’s a) not through and b) still better than most when healthy. Unless the team signs Iglesias to close, they will need Whitlock and/or Houck at the back end of the pen. Signing Hill only makes sense.
Even as a Yankees fan I gotta give the Sox respect for what they accomplished last year. Hope it doesn’t continue but kudos for last year.
Boston need Stroman and Raisel Iglesia!! i will like then sign Jonathan Villar for 2B( play 3B and SS to)
dewey – I appreciate your politeness, but there’s a high probability that Hill will lose it and fast.
Jamie Moyer at Age 40 had a 3.27 ERA and 1.2 WHIP and came in 5th in Cy voting.
The following year he had a 5.21 ERA and 1.4 WHIP.
Hill is simply not worth the risk. I don’t want the Sox having to overpay for a SP at the trade deadline because Hill is ineffective, and I fully expect the Sox to contend.
Every starting pitcher is an “over pay” right now. There are very few options and those are disappearing fast.
Fever, you didn’t want to retain Rodriguez, Matz is gone, now you don’t like Hill. What is your gameplan?
For almost every team the five you start with is not the five you finish with. With or without Hill if the Sox need a starter at the deadline they will have to overpay because most teams have to overpay at the deadline
I’d rather have Hill on a one year deal than Stroman at all. I checked Stroman’s stats and I was favorably surprised. That said to me he’s an ego waiting to divide a playoff clubhouse.
The Sox “contended” because LARGELY because of the players Bloom inherited. Yes Whitlock was a good pick up and Kike had a great postseason but Bloom made MANY MANY moves that didn’t work out probably mainly because of orders by Henry to cut costs. If you think that replacing E-Rod with Rich Hill is a recipe to contend I have got some property to sell you–AT LOW TIDE !!
I agree with that. I can’t stand Stroman !!
Jamie Moyer at 45 won 16 games with a 3.71 ERA and just under 200 innings. Age be damned. If you can still pitch, get out there and hurl. Go Rich Hill.
As a Redsox fan, Thank you
denny you really need to stop attributing things to me that I either never said, or quoting my words out of context.
I don’t like Matz or Hill as the replacement for ERod.
ERod I wanted to keep, numerous times I pointed out how well he pitched in 2019 and how this year his numbers were bad only because he was still recovering from Covid during the first half of the season.
With all three players, everything depends on dollar amounts. I would have given ERod the same AAV Detroit did, but for no more than 3 years.
My gameplan is pay a guy like Rodon up to 1-year $25M, or trade for a quality SP controllable for a few more years. I’d love to get Means, even if we have to give up a package that includes two of Duran/Dalbec/Seabold. Not sure how Baltimore would feel about trading within the division though.
Means might not be that good. His BABIP and LOB% are both likely to regress. His 2nd half ERA/FIP was 4.88/5.01, with a .792 OPSa. Outstanding K/W, but I see a lot of warning signs.
Blow Rodon out the water and have a rotation of Evoladi, Sale, Rodon, Pivetta, and Wacha…Barnes, Houck, and Whitlock the 7-9th inning guys or my high leverage guys….sign Rich Hill he or Wacha is the long guy in the pen the other the 5th starter but if I’m John Henry I’m telling Bloom he can’t fail in getting Rodon I want a WS…..
I’m also chasing Schwarber, his influence alone on Dalbac is worth the paycheck nevermind his bat
Would like Hill back on the Mets. Wouldn’t blame him for not wanting to since every game he would pitch his heart out and the Mets would either not score or the bullpen would blow the game. I believed he only got one W in half a season here. If I were the Mets, I would be ashamed
Rockies would be nuts to let Black go; he’s shown himself able to manage a pitching staff in Colorado, and IMO outproduce the talent he’s been given.
He’s awful. Was awful in SD and remains so in Colorado. Old fashioned manager using old-fashioned tactics. Would be fine as a pitching coach.
Who else could Manage that team? We’ve seen what the so-called “Quality Control” or extra coaches can do managing teams with big budgets and playoff aspirations (Rojas, Tingler) and it wasn’t pretty. In Denver if not Bud Black, you may end up with the guy that pics up Monfort’s dry cleaning
Who did ownership give him to win the division over the Dodgers? Bats and no pitching help out of the pen. Give Black the players and spend some money.
That is funny Seam. Black was given the smallest payrolls in baseball with the Padres and still won. In 2007 they were expected to win 73 games. They won 89. In 2010 they were expected to win 76 games. They won 90. In 2015 he was given a truly awful team and was at .500 when he was let go. His teams were a cumulative 33 Wins above WAR. Meaning they won 33 more games in 9 years than the WAR of the players said they should have. He is a heck of a manager that will never be out of a job as long as he wants to manage.
Black going into his 6th season with the Rockies…..seems like his 15th. He’ll re-up.
Geez I feel like Bud has been there for a decade
Same division makes it feel that way , I guess.
Rich Hill to the As! Good pick up and trade him at the deadline. Again !
He was old the first time in Oakland. Hard to believe that was 6 years ago.
Sounds like Rich isn’t quite over the Hill yet…wonder where he signs?
probably Boston since he likely fits their budget
When the payroll is near the top of the league, budget is not the right word. Flexibility seems more appropriate. The team will again exceed the threshold for the right player at the appropriate time which is after the new CBA changes are considered and a financial projection for the next several years is considered. I think Scherzer is waiting to so the Sox and Yankees can be used to get as much as possible from the Dodgers but I’d still like Big Max in Boston next year.
dewey – You’re saying the Sox should sign TWO pitchers for the starting rotation? I strongly disagree there, I want Houck or Whitlock or Seabold to be given an opportunity to start (preferably Houck).
I’m willing to give Seabold or another minor league guy a chance. Given Sale hasn’t shown an ability to go long in a game without tiring out in August (before surgery), I would like those live arms in the pen. Iglesias and Hill are my signing choices assuming Big Max is unavailable. I also expect Bloom to trade for a starter. Might not be a big name but Bloom has earned my trust so far.
The biggest issue with Seabold is his lack of an out pitch. Doesn’t matter if he’s not a strikrout guy, but he needs at least one pitch where he can get a ground ball or induce a pop up or something.
No need for Cruz to return to the Twins, use the spot for rest and development.
It’s highly unlikely that the Twins are contenders in 2022 with the starting pitching rotation they currently have.
Thinking about the fact that Cruz can probably be gotten for roughly $10M in 2022 and Bloom hasn’t made a max effort medium sized off season acquisition yet, what are the chances it will be deja vu all over again and Boston adds a third DH for the second time in a calendar year? hahaha
It’s illogical, it’s impractical, it’s not a large contract and it’s so Bloom!!
Could happen if the pitchers are gone and suddenly JDM is faced with season ending surgery. Short of that, no way to consider it assuming your post KD was serious.
Cruz has 51 bombs to go to reach 500. And unlike most players with past steroid mistakes, I’m actually rooting for him.
Why Bucket? How many if his HR’s were while using? it burns me to think so many players didn’t get the HOF consideration they really deserved because of the overall PED use. How can Fred McGriff with 499 still not be in?
Has to be a race thing. I’m not trying to stir anything but tell me why him and Lou Whitaker are not.
McGriff is out because of one HR? I’d like to believe race is not the reason. As to Whittaker, was he really measurably better than Willie Randolph or Bobby Grich, both his peers? Jeff Kent is the next 2bman in my book to get in.
Both should be in. Crime Dog was a victim of the juiced numbers during the steroid era. He put up elite offensive stats throughout his career but they looked pedestrian when his career ended and guys were hitting 50+ bombs regularly.
Sweet Lou is a HOF, pure and simple. I wonder how his WAR would look if the defensive stats were applied retroactively.
McGriff finished with 493 homers, not 499. Not that it changes the argument much. Had it not been for a work stoppage during his best season, he would have surpassed 500 HR with ease.
Mazzilli – For first basemen, even if you disregard McGwire and Palmeiro because of PED’s …. what about Helton? Todd has much better WAR, much better OPS, and has 3 GG’s to Fred’s zero. We can’t exclude all Rockies hitters from the HOF just because they played half their games in Coors Field.
What about Gil Hodges? Similar OPS to Fred, similar average WAR, and again 3 GG’s to Fred’s zero.
With that said, I am convinced McGriff will get in through the Modern Era Committee. The same committee that got Baines inducted. There’s no question both McGriff and Whitaker are more deserving than Baines.
BTW – Crime Dog has 493 homeruns, not 499.
Both will eventually be voted in by the Moder Era committee. If Harold Baines can get in the Crime Dog definitely deserves to be in. He misses 500 HR’s by 7 but was still a hitting 30 HR’s and driving in 100 Runs in his age 38 season (his last full season).
If Alan Trammell can get in then certainly Lou Whitaker should be in along side him.
I would like to see Joe Carter get in one day too. Carter was a consistent 30 HR, 100 RBI threat and drove in 100 or more in 10 of the 14 full seasons he played. If Pitchers can now have a “stretch of dominance” as a means to get in then so too should hitters, especially the one’s who were doing it before the steroid era really took off
Lee Mazzilli for HOF3 hours ago
Has to be a race thing. I’m not trying to stir anything but tell me why him and Lou
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If you want to accuse the writers of racism, it might be useful to explain why. From 2010-2021, there were 25 guys voted in. 56% white, 20% black, and 24% Latino.
Since blacks make up only 7.7% of MLB, then they are getting into the Hall at almost 3x their expected rate.
IRT McGriff and Whitaker, I think both get in via the VC, but there are many more qualified candidates. Straight out, he isn’t nearly as good as Bobby Grich. Grich was a much better hitter and much better fielder.
IRT McGriff, Olerud, Darrell Evans, and Keith Hernandez all had higher fWARS, in less PAs, than McGriff.
Thanks for the correction. such amounts to a half a HR a season or thereabouts
Let’s not bring Baines. Political BS with Larussa. Watching Mad Dog get into it with TR was priceless. As to other first baseman, a generation got screwed because there were so many quality players. like at the late 70s to early 90s. Not in any order: Garvey, Hernandez, Cooper, Buckner and Mattingly just to name those that I can quickly think of.
Another who gets overlooked is Frank White. His bat was average nut his glove was A+.
I think Helton should be in. Hodges I am always on the fence about. Ops stands out but overall numbers for that Era don’t seem hall worthy. Baines was a very good consistent player. Not deserving of hall.
Blacks and Latinos are separate races. I would not call say Dwight Gooden the Latino or Fernando Valenzuela the black guy.
Palmeiro has a GG in a season he was a DH all season. Its a joke.
Lee Mazzilli for HOF9 hours ago
Blacks and Latinos are separate races. I would not call say Dwight Gooden the Latino or Fernando Valenzuela the black guy.
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You said that McGriff and Whitaker are not in because the writers are racist. There are plenty of guys with similar or better stats, of all races. I have Dick Allen, Tony Oliva, and Bobby Grich in my collection on an expectation of them making the HOF.
I didn’t pick them to get one of each group. I picked them because I thought the idiot writers overlooked them.
If the Rangers think they can turn the corner this season a reunion with Cruz probably wouldn’t be a terrible idea
Makes no sense to rank Houck over Whitlock as a rotation candidate, and there is no reason not to regard both as upgrades to last year’s rotation, which was good enough.
Moving Whitlock to the rotation could be problematic to the overall pitching staff. He pitched many critical innings out of the pen on his way to a three bWAR season. Those innings will need to be replaced. Meanwhile, the most innings he’s pitched in a pro-ball season is 120, and that was four years back. He won’t have the opportunity to take the league by surprise again, and we don’t know how his stuff will play a couple times through the lineup every 5th day. So is he more valuable to the Red Sox as an effective reliever, or a so-so backend starter?
Agree. I’ve said it multiple times, absent the team getting a true closer like Iglesias, I’d prefer starter upgrades, keeping both Houck and Whitlock for late inning work.
Moving Whitlock to the rotation reminds me of the whole Daniel Bard situation. Bad idea!
Except Whitlock was a starter until he had surgery and innings had to be watched. I want him in the pen but I did want to respond.
Whitlock is too valuable to become a starter. IMO, he was our MVP.
That said, Houck pitched pretty good as a starter, but I wouldn’t mind paying him to stay in the BP.
Rich Hill is a good guy and decent pitcher but not worth the money. Whenever he throws a curveball, he lands on the IL, and he isn’t getting younger.
I sort of feel the same way. This season’s pitching Market is kind of a crapshoot. Even Big Max I’m leery of because of his age and the cost and starting to miss time last year. Didn’t he have a little arm thing going on?
I just am not comfortable because we need a couple strong starters and I’m not seeing anyone out there that fits the bill. Another thrown together starting rotation for 2022 LOL.
While I don’t think Cruz will go back to Minnesota, I wonder if a reunion with another team is a possibility? Seattle could use a power bat…
Padres if there is the DH in the NL?
No one gives you a stronger 20 innings each year
Do you know how many innings he pitched last year, or are you just going along with the crowd? He was #42 in IPs last year.
Seems like he could be in the Jamie Moyer class and could be effective into his mid-40s. Good candidate also for any team looking to implement a 6-man rotation.
The Red Sox will let other teams get better while John Henry is focusing on his other side gigs. RS are done spending.
“RS are done spending”
They haven’t spent a dime, and they have 25mil before hitting spending threshold. What are you talking about?
I meant spending big like they used 2. they will pick up a few scrubs here and there.
Nonsense. The RS will to at least the cap, just like they always do.
Poor Bud Black. He has consistently had to make lemonade out of lemons when he was handed garbage lineups by his GMs. He is a good manager. Like to see what he could do with a high revenue club.
Rich Hill would make a fascinating closer at this point.