Red Sox out collectin' arms! Figure you get (8) decent 110 IP guys and away you go! Johnny Cueto, c'mon down!(or has he been signed yet?)

Yeah you just have to hope they line up their injuries

I didn't know Hill was a Boston-area native, nor that he made 31 starts last season - his most since 2007 (!)

OF the 11 franchises Hill has pitched for, his 1.34 ERA with the Red Sox is the lowest.

I suspect there is a pitcher to be acquired via trade from Cincy, Oakland, somebody like that, who could be a good #3 starter. That would give you a rotation going into spring training something like:

Eovaldi
Sale
Trade Acquisition
Pivetta
Hill/Houck/Whitlock/Seabold/Wacha/Crawford, with Paxton later in 2022.

Personally, I'd like to see at least one of Houck or Whitlock coming out of the bullpen, and maybe both. Then, you've got Seabold and Crawford in AAA, Paxton recovering, with Hill and Wacha as the main competition for the #5 slot.

In terms of who might be available of value in a trade for a #3 pitcher (like Sean Manaea or Luis Castillo), Manaea is a one-year guy, Castillo is multiple years, so the cost depends on the years of team control. Would a package that included, say, Duran, Seabold, and a lower-minors prospect for Castillo and a bullpen arm like Luis Cessa get the job done?

Rich Hill will sign with a different team every year until he dies on the mound at age 77, winning six games every year with a 3.50-ish ERA. After that, he’ll move into the Phillies bullpen and give them 25-30 average innings a year until baseball ends.

Rich Hill could do far worse than following the Jamie Moyer pathway for the next 6 years.

#4. I agree re Houck. He seemed to be mostly devastating in 3-4 inning stints out of the pen but also couldn't seem to get past that when starting.

Rich Hill is older than:

Mark Teixiera
Hank Blalock
Nick Swisher
Mark Prior
Josh Beckett
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Jonathan Papelbon
Curtis Granderson
Alex Rios
Justin Morneau
Josh Hamilton
Brandon Phillips
Carl Crawford
James Shields
Carlos Zambrano
Rich Harden
Grady Sizemore
Dontrelle Willis
Francisco Rodriguez

Keep on keepin on Rich Hill. There aren't many MLB players older than me left, but you're keeping the dream alive.

Speaking of old guys:

1. Is Nelson Cruz going to make it to 500 home runs? He hit 32 this year, and he's 41 away.

2. Is Albert Pujols going to sign with the A's? I think that's how this is supposed to go.

#8: That's a great list. Papelbon is on the HoF ballot this year; Prior hasn't pitched since 2006.

I was under the impression that Hill retired years ago.

I've always enjoyed his stylings. He looks like an accountant and throws a battery of junk that's always just out of people's reach. Here's hoping he's got a few miles left in that arm.

Wait, this isn't as a pitching coach? Fascinating! Maybe the Sox will just sign all the available "Take-a-flyer-on-this-guy" pitchers and then trade them to teams in need. Corner the market.

By the time he retires, Rich Hill will have had as many stints pitching for the Red Sox as Billy Martin had stints managing the Yankees.

I wouldn't call what Hill throws "junk" exactly -- I know what you mean but he's got one of the best curveballs. Nobody's been able to hit the curveball (or Hill generally) since he debuted, it was always just about his control. And not that I knew this before some digging but apparently he's had top-notch fastball rotation too. Also Wiki tells me he is right-handed and throws RH but his brother "converted" him to LH.

Career 279 BABIP
Career 314/520 on-contact (that's excellent ... Scherzer for example 326/547)

He never had much velocity (that I recall) but I don't think any hitter ever considered his stuff "hittable."

Further "amazing" factoid -- 17 seasons, just 1135 IP. Career high 195 ML IP way back in 2007, one of two seasons over 150 (in 2021!). Just 16.6 career WAR but a solid 7.4 career WAA. That's roughly Robbie Ray's career to date -- our current all-time leader in K/9.

Wait, this isn't as a pitching coach? Fascinating! Maybe the Sox will just sign all the available "Take-a-flyer-on-this-guy" pitchers and then trade them to teams in need. Corner the market.

Steve Ontiveros is available.