Tim Hill, a left-hander, was dismissed by the White Sox, per his transactions tracker on MLB.com. They will still be liable for the remaining portion of his $1.8 million compensation. Now that he was signed, any other club would simply need to pay the prorated league minimum for the time he was on the roster, and that sum would be deducted from the Sox’s compensation.
In the offseason, Hill, 34, signed a one-year contract. When the White Sox began their rebuilding effort in 2023, they dealt away a number of well-known players, including relievers Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, Reynaldo Lopez, and Keynan Middleton. They carried out the task by shipping out Gregory Santos and Aaron Bummer when the offseason got underway.
It was hoped that Hill could become a reliable, experienced member of a relief corps that was full of uncertainty, and maybe even become a trade candidate before the deadline. Regretfully, in his 27 Sox appearances, he let up 5.87 earned runs every nine innings, and last week, he was slated for assignment. With more than five years of major league experience under his belt, he is entitled to choose free agency and decline an assignment outright, both of which will keep his pay intact. It was very predictable that he would return to free agency under those circumstances.
Teams might be ready to ignore his ERA in favour of his other metrics now that he’s available and can be signed for a low price. With a career ground ball percentage of 60.5%, he has always been a ground ball player. With a grounder rate of 65.6% this season, he has actually outperformed himself in terms of keeping the ball on the ground, above the league average of 42.6% for 2024. Although he only struck out 12.6% of batters in 2022—a season in which he posted a 3.56 ERA with the Padres—his 11% strikeout percentage is extremely low.
Hill is a reliable veteran with 347 major league appearances and a 4.30 ERA, though he might not be as thrilling as a fire-breathing closer. While pitching for the team that has perhaps the poorest defence in the majors, he has a.436 hitting average on balls in play this season. His results haven’t been fantastic thus far. The Sox are marginally ahead of the Pirates and Marlins in their aggregate -20 Outs Above Average this season, but their -52 is by far the worst in baseball, with the Rays coming in second at -31. Compared to his ERA, his 3.46 FIP and 3.90 SIERA present a far more favourable image.
Given how inexpensive Hill may be signed and how many teams in the league are dealing with pitching ailments, maybe one of them will take a risk on him doing better in a different setting.
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