The Diamondbacks and Aaron Hill have agreed to a two-year contract worth a little more than $10 million, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
Jon Heyman of SI.com later reported that the deal will be worth $11 million over two years. Sounds like a reasonable deal for both sides. The Diamondbacks declined Hill's $8 million options for 2012 and 2013 after the season. The 29-year-old second baseman enjoyed success after being acquired from the Blue Jays in August, batting .315/.386/.492 with two homers, 16 RBI and an .878 OPS over 142 plate appearances. Hill was an All-Star in 2009, when he posted an .829 OPS in 734 plate appearances. He's fallen back to earth with OPS' of .665 and .655 the last two years, but Arizona hopes his production spike at the end of 2011 is a harbinger for things to come.
Hill is as inconsistent as it comes so you never know what you're going to get from him. His power completely disappeared going from 36 HR to 26 HR to just 8 HR last season. He's above average defensively which is good and I say he lives up to one year of the contract. I just don't see the big parks and good pitching in the NL West helping his cause to get back to 2009 levels.