Yankees bring back Tim Hill on a one-year contract
· Yahoo Sports
If you said the Yankees’ first transaction of the offseason would be to re-sign one of their relievers, that’d be pretty believable, but you’d probably assume it’d be David Bednar off his qualifying offer. Instead, it’s a bit of a surprise, as the Yankees have re-signed lefty Tim Hill to a cheap, one-year deal with a club option in 2028.
Hill has had a classic reliever career. A 32nd-round pick in 2014, he debuted with the Royals in 2018, was traded to the Padres for one-time Yankee Franchy Cordero in 2020, and spent the next few seasons carving out a niche as a funky lefty for San Diego until he appeared to hit a wall in 2023. Over the next year and a half, he pitched to a 5.60 ERA over 67 innings for two teams and was released in June 2024 by the dreadful White Sox.
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Left-handed reliever Tim Hill and the New York Yankees are in agreement on a one-year, $2.25 million contract that includes a $2.5 million club option for 2028, sources tell ESPN. Hill returns for his fourth season with the Yankees, whose bullpen is a top priority this offseason.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 15, 2026
Being 34 at the time, in a position with such volatile turnover, that could’ve well been it for Hill, but the Yankees gave him a shot on a flier two days later and found something in him, tweaking his arsenal and turning him into one of the most effective lefty specialists in the sport, spinning a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings down the stretch. He had gained so much trust in such little time that he owns a place in Yankees lore for being unjustly left in the bullpen in Game 1 of the World Series in favor of a rusty, injured Nestor Cortes.
Hill was worse, but still effective in 2025, though the warning signs started to flash. As a high-80s sinker-throwing lefty who relies on location with his extremely low arm angle, he’s susceptible to giving up hard contact if his command is off. In 2024, he had some of the best damage prevention stats in the sport, but it has slowly eroded since.
2026 was a disaster for Hill, pitching to a 4.60 ERA and 5.93 FIP in 58.2 innings as his chase rate plummeted and he became completely unplayable against righties, allowing a .293/.365/.543 slashline in 104 plate appearances. That, coupled with the presence of Brent Headrick, Ryan Weathers, and Ryan Yarbrough, left him off the playoff roster for both rounds.
Yet, despite the 36-year-old’s worst season peripherally, he had a strong market, drawing interest from teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and Guardians. Ultimately, he decided to stay with the team that revitalized his career on a low-risk contract. With Bednar, Paul Blackburn, John Schreiber, Michael Fulmer, and even Yarbrough also free agents, the Yankees clearly had spots to fill from their end-of-season bullpen. Not all the additions are going to be blockbuster moves, and that’s OK.
Hill is still quite effective against lefties, has the league’s best ground-ball rate, and is surely due for some positive regression after registering the second-highest HR/FB% in the history of baseball, but it’s certainly an interesting move to make first.
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