This is 40

 

This week, there's been an alarming development that, while it may not immediately lead to anything, or it may be solely hogwash, could lead to something intriguing happening. You see, both the Dodgers and the Yankees have been seriously considering, erm...signing 44-year-old Rich Hill.

And what makes this funny is that injuries have been forcing both teams, to this point, to go younger and younger. The Yankees might bring Jasson Dominguez back up soon, he's only 21. The Dodgers have been thumbing through minor league pitching options. Desperately trying to find people too young to break down upon impact. And one of their remedies for roster bulking is...signing a 44-year-old ageless wonder who's made himself available for teams and seems to still have stuff left.

It's wild to me that Hill would immediately make himself available to the Yankees, of all teams. Not only was Hill's Yankee tenure one of his most forgettable ones, but it's widely reported that Hill is a Boston sports fan. Like, 'caught the ire of cops outside Gillette stadium' Boston sports fan. So while he's grateful that someone would want to sign him, it's weird that he's gearing himself directly towards the Yankees. But, again, they're aiming to get far in, they need an innings eater, it would make sense.

Hill, upon his return, would become, again, the oldest player in the major leagues, and the seventh 40+ year old employed by a major league team [I am counting Max Scherzer, even if he does turn 40 tomorrow]. And the wild part is that five of the seven are pitchers- Hill, Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jesse Chavez...and Charlie Morton. 

Morton is one of those cases of a player whose career truly begins after thirty. He was fine for the Pirates during the early 2010s, but the Astros' pitching coaches really unlocked something in him in 2017, and since then he's been 89-47 with 1351 Ks and a 3.57 ERA. Barely any missed time, barely any true down years, 2 World Series' in 3 appearances, and they're still letting him pitch at 40. Not only that, but Morton's still a pretty reliable guy for the Braves, he's got a 3.83 ERA and 101 Ks. This year he'll likely notch his 2000th strikeout, which, will not exactly making him a Hall of Famer, definitely cements his status as one of the best pitchers of this current era. Putting him in the same sentence as Scherzer and Verlander in terms of career longevity and consistent quality is not the worst idea, even if Morton doesn't have the 20s runs that either of those two have. 

And so even if it's likely that some of these 40 year olds will likely retire at the end of the season [Jesse Chavez seems to be doing this, and Gurriel, Votto and Hill certainly could], it's very cool that we have this many playing at the same time, and playing well. Morton, Verlander and Scherzer are still very much viable and trustworthy options, even in their forties. And it's nice that in the era of overthrowing we can still have guys like that.

Coming Tomorrow- I assumed that the AL was only bringing one utility man with them for the All Star Game, and then this guy wound up coming as well, and doing well in the ASG.