Report: Mets acquire ageless pitcher Rich Hill from Rays

The trade deadline may be a week away, but some teams don't want to wait until the last second to make their rosters better.

The New York Mets are one of those teams. According to Robert Murray of Fansided and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Mets are trading for 41-year-old pitcher Rich Hill, who has been with the Tampa Bay Rays this season.

Acording to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets are sending pitcher Tommy Hunter and a Double-A player to the Rays in exchange for Hill.

Hill is an ageless wonder who has managed to continually find work despite being over 40, which is still considered ancient as far as pitchers go. He pitched for the Dodgers from 2016 to 2019 and had a 3.16 ERA, then signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Minnesota Twins for the 2020 season. His 3.03 ERA in eight starts only got him a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Rays in 2021.

So far in 2021, Hill has a 3.87 ERA over 19 starts. That's definitely not bad for a 41-year-old who at most is a back-of-the-rotation starter, but a closer look reveals some recent troubles. Since the start of June, Hill has a 4.70 ERA over 8 starts.

Those aren't exactly encouraging numbers, but the Mets need pitching help. Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker have been outstanding, as has Tylor Megill, a 25-year-old minor leaguer who has pitched his way into the third rotation spot. But Jacob deGrom is on the injured list, and while nothing and no one can replace him, the Mets need a reliable and consistent innings eater to keep them in games while the bats go to work. Hill could be that for the Mets — if he's able to shake off his last two months of starts.

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