Yankees could turn to familiar face in reunion with relief arm

The New York Yankees can round out their bullpen by bringing back one of their relief pitchers this winter.

Analyst justifies Yankees reuniting with Tim Hill in 2025

The Yankees replaced All-Star closer Clay Holmes with one of, if not the best closer in the MLB when healthy in Devin Williams. They also brought back talented leadup man Jonathan Loaisiga into their fold and still have Ian Hamilton rostered, though Tommy Kahnle is a free agent.

Yankees reliever Tim Hill could reprise his role on their World Series-qualifying unit, especially if Kahnle departs this offseason. MLB Trade Rumors’ Mark Polishuk relayed a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post which stated that the Yankees are looking into several relief arms including Hill.

The 34-year-old brought his ERA down below 3.50 for the first time in his career with the Yankees last season. He accompanied his sparkling 2.05 ERA in New York with 18 strikeouts and a 1.02 WHIP on 35 games for the Yankees after joining their ball club back in June.

Yankees: Hill could continue to thrive with improved INF

Polishuk contextualized the ways in which the California native could continue to service the Yankees beyond his face-value peripherals, which would only be heightened by an upgraded infield behind him on the mound:

“Hill’s status as an extreme groundball pitcher can lead to such big swings in performance, as one often needs to look behind just the ERA to fully gauge the veteran lefty’s effectiveness.  Hill had an enormous .436 BABIP with the White Sox and then a .238 BABIP with the Yankees, perhaps explaining why the gap in SIERA (3.33 with New York, 4.04 with Chicago) isn’t quite as large as Hill’s ERAs would suggest.  The biggest change was improved control, as Hill had an 8.5% walk rate with the Sox and then only a 5.2% walk rate in the Bronx,” Polishuk wrote.

Thus, while the Yankees have $247.22 million on their books and are projected to have a $277.9 million payroll table by Spotrac, they could ensure their bullpen by taking another look at Hill for an entire season next year.