Rays’ Rich Hill Explains Offseason Free Agency Talks With Red Sox

Rich Hill really rejuvenated his career with the Red Sox in 2015.

It would’ve been fitting if the Massachusetts native returned this offseason for one more stint with Boston, especially since the Red Sox needed starting pitching help after a disappointing 2020.

A free agency deal never materialized, though, as the Red Sox brought back left-hander Martín Pérez and signed right-hander Garrett Richards. Hill instead inked a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.

So, just how close did Hill come to rejoining the Red Sox?

Well, the 41-year-old lefty recently explained to WEEI’s Rob Bradford that he “very much” thought he’d ultimately land with Boston, signing with Tampa Bay only after it became clear a Red Sox reunion wasn’t in the cards.

“I honestly thought talking to the (Red Sox) front office, talking with the training staff and everything like that, I really thought that was going to be an opportunity,” Hill told Bradford. “Especially being home. Look, being 41 and I wanted to stay on the East Coast, and I wanted to be close to home, all of which were the primary objective. There was no better place than Boston.”

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It’s quite possible there was strong mutual interest, even as the Red Sox explored other options. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. And Boston opted for a couple of other veterans, while Hill eventually needed to move on as the open market took shape.

“I talked with (Red Sox manager) Alex (Cora) and he expressed his interest in wanting me to come and sign there. To me, it was very real. I think to him it was very real,” Hill said, per Bradford. “There’s only so much in your court you can control, so you just kind of go with what you hear.”

Hill spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox from 2010 to 2012, a stretch in which he underwent Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2014 — though he never pitched in the majors with Boston that season — and again in 2015.

Hill’s superb four-start stint with the Red Sox down the stretch in 2015 since has catapulted him to additional success at the big league level, with the Rays becoming the latest beneficiaries of the veteran southpaw’s crafty mound work.