Rich Hill isn’t closing the book just yet.
The 46-year-old left-hander said in a new interview that he has not officially retired and plans to try starting a throwing program this offseason. After a season that saw him pitch for the Kansas City Royals, Hill is leaving the door open for one more run.
“If it does [happen], great,” Hill told ESPN’s Buster Olney on the Baseball Tonight podcast. “If it doesn’t, I don’t have to ask the question, what if?”
Hill, who turns 47 in March, signed a minor league deal with Kansas City in 2025 and made two starts for the club, 20 years after his big league debut with the Chicago Cubs. The Royals later designated him for assignment, and he has been a free agent since.
What makes Hill’s next idea even more unusual is the role he’s thinking about. He said Taylor Rogers has given him hope that he could return as a submariner.
“Taylor Rogers up in Toronto has given me hope to come back as a submariner,” Hill said.
Rogers, 35, has found success with an 83.2-mph fastball thanks to his unusual arm angle, and Hill pointed to that style as a possible path to extending his career. He told Olney he wants to “build up over the offseason and get on a throwing program again, get back into the gym and continue to keep, you know, working and … not getting back to where I was, but trying to find a new spot or a new normal of where I can help a team out of the bullpen or possibly start.”
Hill’s career line across 388 major league games stands at 90-76 with a 4.02 ERA. His journey has taken him through the Cubs, Royals, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox.
A Massachusetts native, Hill has signed with Boston on six different occasions. If things break right, he could make it seven.
In Other News...
Royals Catching Prospect Is Forcing A Bigger Timeline Conversation
Blake Mitchell has spent 2026 doing the sort of things that make a front office start revisiting its long-term plans. The Royals No. 5 prospect has been productive with the Quad Cities River Bandits after recovering from a broken right hamate bone, showing the kind of offensive growth that goes beyond a catching prospect simply holding his own. His power has shown up, his strike-zone awareness has held up, and the combination has kept him squarely in the organizations conversation as one of the more interesting names in the system.
The original expectation pointed to a major league debut in 2027, which still gives the Royals some breathing room with a young catcher they want to develop the right way. But prospects do not always stay on schedule when they keep forcing the issue at every level, and Mitchell is making it harder to treat his arrival as a distant question. If he keeps performing at this pace, the timeline around Kansas Citys catching future may need to be rewritten sooner than planned. [Read more 🡒]
Freddie Freemans Scary Fall Near The Royals Dugout Had Everyone Worried
Freddie Freemans tumble near the Royals dugout briefly turned a routine night into a tense one, with the Dodgers star falling down the stairs during the game and leaving everyone nearby with a scare. Freeman was able to get back up, stand and walk back to first base, which helped calm the immediate concern, and he was later replaced in the inning as the Dodgers played on.
What made the moment linger was the sight of Freeman trying to shake it off after such a jarring fall, even as the postgame outlook started to sound more reassuring. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the incident scary but said Freemans condition was stable, leaving the bigger question centered on how the injury might affect him moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Take A Chance On Former All-Star With One Big Catch
The Royals added some pitching insurance for 2026 by signing right-hander Tony Gonsolin to a Major League contract, giving the club another experienced arm to consider for next season and beyond. The deal includes a club option for 2027, a sign Kansas City is interested in seeing whether theres enough upside to make this more than a short-term flier.
Kansas City had to make a corresponding move to fit Gonsolin on the roster, and that sent right-hander Eli Morgan off the 40-man picture for now. The immediate roster shuffle is only part of the story, though, because the larger question is whether Gonsolin can get back to being a meaningful piece once hes available and the Royals start sorting out what they really have. [Read more 🡒]