Aaron Hill Named D’Back Wilson Defensive Player of the Year

September 21, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill (2) fields a ground ball during the second inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

It wasn’t that long ago where there a select few awards given out in Major League Baseball for on-field excellence.  MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Gold Gloves and Manager of the Year were it.  Now it seems since the advent of MLB Network, the amount of hardware given out has at least doubled.  this year for the first time, sporting goods company Wilson has announced a Defensive Player of the Year Award for each team.  Fittingly, the recipient on the Arizona Diamondbacks is second baseman Aaron Hill.

I know that sometimes Hill’s defense is overlooked because of his proficiency at the plate.  After all, he was one of the best offensive players in the game at his position.  However, if you watched enough D’Back games this year, you came away impressed with how Hill mans his position.  Although he lost out to Darwin Barney of the Chicago Cubs for the Gold Glove,  that does not diminish just how good he was in the field.  He committed only six errors in 757 chances giving him a fielding percentage of .992.  General manger Kevin Towers would be wise to reach out to one of his best players and talk contract extension.  It seems as though the 30-year old would be quite receptive to staying in Phoenix for the long haul.

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