Yankees Scouting Athletics Starter Rich Hill?

The New York Yankees were one of seven contenders to send scouts to Athletics starting pitcher and likely trade chip Rich Hill’s latest start according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Rich Hill made his first start in over a month Saturday, striking out six Pirates in six innings of work, allowing two walks and two earned runs in Oakland’s 4-2 extra inning loss to Pittsburgh. The 36-year-old lefthander was activated off the disabled list before the game after sitting out June’s action with a groin sprain.

With the Athletics well out of contention and GM Billy Beane’s penchant for deadline deals, Rich Hill has long been seen as one of the biggest potential prizes of the upcoming August 1st trade deadline. While there will always be injury risk attached to the fragile hill, the upside is very enticing. Hill has emerged as one of the game’s best starters over the past year after twelve seasons as a journeyman reliever and swingman.

In four starts down the stretch for the Red Sox in 2015, Hill struck out 36 batters in 29 innings, while limiting opponents to just five earned runs. Those four appearances landed him a tidy $6 million contract with Oakland this winter, with many pundits speculating that he deserved more since his success appeared legitimate.

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Hill has continued to dominate in 2016, pitching to a 2.31 ERA and 2.71 FIP in 12 starts (70 IP). He has struck out 27.8% of the batters he’s faced this year and done an excellent job of keeping the ball in the yard (0.26 HR/9). Hill primarily relies on his four seamer, which has averaged 90.4 mph this season according to Fangraphs, and a nasty mid-70s curve. He will also mix in a slider and occasional changeup.

Although Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball recently named the New York Yankees as one of a dozen teams looking to add starting pitching at the trade deadline, Rich Hill seems like an unlikely target for a number of reasons. Acquiring Hill will likely mean surrendering several top prospects since he is arguably the best clearly available arm this summer. Every contender will be looking to shore up their rotation, so a bidding war seems inevitable.

With the Yankees focusing on building from within, surrendering young talent for a veteran rental would go against everything they have been doing lately. If the cost was low enough, Hill would be a great fit, but at least one club should be willing to overpay given all of the competition for him.

After struggling to remain at .500 for the majority of the first half, the Yankees look more like sellers than buyers anyway. Even if they land a big fish at the deadline, it may not be enough. Also, Hill is hardly a sure thing with his injury history.

A more likely target for the Yankees may be Rich Hill’s teammate Sonny Gray. There were reports all winter that GM Brian Cashman was focused on acquiring young, controllable starting pitchers. The 26-year-old Gray is controlled through 2019, and finished third in the American League Cy Young award voting last season after posting a 2.73 ERA in 208 innings.

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While he’s struggled in the early going this season, Gray is undeniably talented and has looked better of late. He remains one of the elite arms in the AL and would provide the Yankees with another young arm to build around for 2017 and beyond.