The Last Remaining Red Sox Free Agent has Signed

Aaron Hill has signed a minor league free agent contract with the Giants.

I was initially intrigued by the trade that brought Hill over from the Brewers.  It did not cost Boston much, just a couple of minor leaguers who were not high on the team's top prospects list.  And Boston needed production from third base with injuries and ineffectiveness to Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt and a prolonged slump from Travis Shaw.  Hill was also capable of filling it at second if need be.  At the time of the trade, he was hitting .283/.359/.421 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs.  He was having a decent year.

Unfortunately some times things just do not work out.  Hill's numbers took a nose dive and he never looked comfortable in Boston.  Over the next few months, he hit just .218/.287/.290 with just two home runs, three doubles, and nine RBIs.  Pathetic numbers really.  He ended up buried on the bench in the postseason and only had one plate appearance, he struck out.  So it was no surprise at all that Boston never seemed interested in bringing him back.

Red Sox With No Cards Pt. 3: Rich Hill

In this series I take a look at players who played for the Boston Red Sox but, for some reason, never had a card produced of them with the team.

RICH HILL
Hill spent parts of three seasons with the Red Sox.  He was a reclamation project coming off of some injury troubles in 2010 and was signed as a low-risk signing to provide a left-hander out of the bullpen.    he only made it into six games in 2010 but was 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and three strikeouts in four innings.  He continued to have injury problems.  

In 2011, Hill only pitched in nine games but again had a 0.00 ERA with twelve strikeouts in eight innings.  Again, injuries derailed his season but he pitched well enough that Boston kept him for another season.  Hill was healthy for a decent amount of time in 2012, managing to pitch in 25 games.  He struck out 21 in 19.2 innings against 11 walks.  His ERA was 1.83 and he was 1-0.  Certainly decent numbers but he was non-tendered to provide roster space and because of his injury problems.  Boston was interested in bringing him back but he ended up signing with Cleveland and has been healthy so far this season.

Hill never really pitched quite enough to warrant a baseball card.  But that is one of the reasons I miss Topps Total.  I am sure last season he would have made it into that set.  They did do a lot of middle relievers, even those who did not pitch a lot.