Sources — Pirates agree to 1-year deal with 42-year-old left-hander Rich Hill

Lefty Rich Hill and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal, a source familiar with the deal told ESPN. Baseball this season.

Hill, who turns 43 in March, has carved out a role as a five-inning specialist in recent years. Last season with the Boston Reds in his Sox, he started in his 26 games, pitching 124⅓ innings, posting a 4.27 ERA and typically posting strong strikeouts to walks.

The deal, which is pending physical, adds Hill to a roster full of young pitchers that includes right-handed Mitch Keller, Roancy Contreras, Luis Ortiz and Johan Oviedo. Priester and Mike Burroughs also finished AAA last season.

Hill was the second-oldest player in baseball last year, two months younger than retired St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols. Behind Hill are Nelson Cruz and Oliver Perez, both of whom remain unsigned, and Adam Wainwright, 41, signed a one-year, $17.5 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

After starting his career with the Chicago Cubs in 2005, Hill spent time with the Baltimore Orioles, Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees before pitching for the independent Long Island Ducks in 2015. He moved to Oakland in 2016 and spent 4 his seasons in Los Angeles where he was traded to the Dodgers. He signed with Minnesota in 2020, signed with Tampa Bay in 2021 (when traded to the New York Mets), and spent his third stint in Boston this year.

In his 18-year career, Hill is 82-59 with a 3.85 ERA. He had 1,294 strikeouts, 482 walks, and 151 homers in 1,259 innings.