Lefty Reliever Tim Hill Re-Signs With Yankees

Submarine Specalist Threw High-Octane Innings in 2024

Tim Hill will return to the Yankees’ bullpen for the 2025 season. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Hill signed a one-year, $2.85 million contract with New York for 2025 with a club option for 2026. If Hill performs as well as he did last season, there’s no reason to believe the Yankees won’t pick up his cheap salary for next year.

In my first post of The Yankees Chronicle, “What’s Next for the Yankees?” I predicted that Hill would re-sign with the Yankees, and a one-year deal would cost the club no more than $2-5 million. I’m no forecaster of the future, but I’m gonna pat myself on the back for this one.

Hill’s deal made way too much sense for the Yankees to move on from his services. In 2024, the sinker specialist was the most reliable left-handed arm in the bullpen. He had a 2.05 ERA in 44 innings for the Yankees after the Chicago White Sox released him last June. Yes, those White Sox. Hill barely registers strikeouts, but it matters not. His 69 percent ground ball rate was 26.4 percent better than the MLB average. That’s a great sinker, indeed.

Hill is the only lefty bullpen arm on the Yankees’ 40-man roster. Expect him to throw many innings in 2025, especially against teams loaded with left-handed hitters. One hundred twenty-one lefties put together a measly .643 OPS against Hill in 2024.

Let's hope general manager Brian Cashman is still working the phone and trying to land at least one more lefty bullpen arm, whether in free agency or through a trade.

More to come!