Aaron Hill Hoping to Make Arizona His Home

Aaron Hill  is probably used to being overlooked.  While playing Second Base for the Toronto Blue Jays, he was overshadowed by Robinson Cano  and Dustin Pedroia.   After being acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 23rd,  he quietly filled in for the departed Kelly Johnson by hitting .315 in 33 games as the D-Backs won the National League West.   He signed a 2 year, $11 million dollar contract early in the offseason, perhaps the least publicized of Arizona’s offseason moves.  Set to begin his first full season in the Valley, Hill is hoping to re-engerize a career that was slowed for most of 2011.

After four mostly non-eventful seasons in Toronto, Hill had a season in 2009 which most Second Basemen would envy.  He walloped 36 homers and drove in 108 runs while leading the league in at-bats with 686.  He also scored 103 runs and was selected to his only All-Star team.   In 2010, he still managed to hit 26 dingers but his RBI total was only 68 and his batting average slipped to a  woeful .205.  Finally, after managing only 8 home runs and a .299 on-base average through 104 games,  Toronto shipped him along with John McDonald  to Arizona for Johnson, the primary Second Basemen for the D-Backs .    Hill concluded his initial campaign with the NL West Champs by hitting .278 in the five game NLDS loss to the Milwaukee Brewers with one homer and a .435 on-base average.

Now that he is in his first full season with Arizona, Hill decided to move his entire family to the Phoneix area.  According to an article on azcentral.com, Hill also found that his teammates this Spring have treated him like he has been a member of the organization for years.  I am sure he would like to turn the clock back a few years to 2009 and help the D-Backs reach the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

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