Pirates, Rich Hill Agree To One-Year Contract For 2023

The Pittsburgh Pirates have added another piece to their rotation as they have agreed to a one-year, $8M deal with veteran lefty Rich Hill, a source confirmed to Pittsburgh Baseball Now. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the agreement.

Hill, now 42 years old, is an 18-year major league veteran, having spent the 2022 season in Boston With the Red Sox.

With Boston, Hill went 8-7 with a 4.27 ERA/3.92 FIP in 26 starts spanning 124.1 innings.

The Pirates will be the 12th team for Hill in his big league career. In 350 career games/221 starts, Hill is 82-59 with a 3.85 ERA with just shy of 1,300 strikeouts in 1,259 innings.

The veteran southpaw had a career resurgence beginning in 2015. Since the beginning of that year, Hill is 58-37 with a 3.32 ERA in 153 appearances, 151 of which were starts.

In addition to being the oldest active player in the league, Hill is 15th among active players in K/9 (9.3) and is 19th in winning percentage (.582).

It’s the third straight season in which the Pirates have added a veteran left-hander to the rotation. The Bucs inked Tyler Anderson to a one-year deal prior to the 2021 season and signed Jose Quintana last offseason.

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The deal also represents the largest financial commitment for the Pirates under GM Ben Cherington, eclipsing Carlos Santana’s $6.725M deal which was signed earlier this offseason.

Hill joins Vince Velasquez as the Pirates’ additions to their starting rotation this offseason.