New York Post columnist has LA Angels bringing veteran starter back to LA

The LA Angels desperately need starting pitching this offseason.

Anyone who disagrees with that clearly hasn’t been watching the Angels at all in these past seven years.

The fans know it, the team has to know it, local writers like myself know it, and even the national columnists know it.

Ken Davidoff of the New York Post has the LA Angels bringing in Rich Hill this offseason.

It wouldn’t be a bad move for the LA Angels to get Rich Hill over here this winter.

Hill answered questions this season. After being a consistently good pitcher out of both the pen and the starting rotation since 2014, he just needed to prove that he could stay healthy.

Again, the performance had been pretty good for a long time. He’s posted a 3.15 ERA since 2014, and part of that was of course due to a strong 2021, where he posted a 3.86 ERA. He hadn’t, however, been staying healthy heading into this year.

In 2020, he started just eight games. The season was obviously much shorter that year, but that still means he missed about a third of the season. In 2019, he started just 13 games. In fact, he only made 73 starts (74 appearances total) in the four years prior to 2019, and in 2015 he only appeared in 16 games as a reliever.

In 2021, he not only played well, but appeared in 32 games (and 31 as a starter). He doesn’t strike batters out the way he used to, but part of that’s due to him pitching in a different role as a member of starting rotations. He is also very experienced (in both the NL and AL) and could really be a great influence to have around all the young arms we’re going to be throwing next season.

Also, what’s the worst thing that can happen? The 17-year-vet knows he’s too old to demand a big payday, and the worst thing that happens is us having to move him to the bullpen. And that’s not even that big of a problem, as he’s had success in the bullpen before.

Hill is much improved from when he was an Angel before, and could give the Angels really nice value. After all, Davidoff only has the Angels signing him for $6 million on just a one-year contract. That’s cheap, and Hill has been reliable to give great production for that cost for many years now.