NATIONAL HARBOR, MD –The Los Angeles Dodgers announced Monday the resigning of lefthander Rich Hill to a three-year, $48 million deal. The club has not yet confirmed the financial terms.
Rich Hill has had a bumpy success story due to the amount of injuries he has had to overcome throughout his career. Hill has spent his time with several MLB teams as well the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. During the 2016 season he went 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA.
The signing came during the beginning of the winter meetings. Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman spoke about what an asset Hill has been to the Dodgers in the three-months he’s been with the team.
“Being around him for three months he has exceeded our expectations. That gave us the confidence to bet on him.” Friedman acknowledges Hill’s career obstacles, “What he’s persevered through in his career, the type of person he is, the type of competitor fit us really well moving forward. It was a huge priority for us.”
Hill’s comeback story is one many would of given up on years ago. He tried holding in his emotions during the Dodgers press conference.
“It’s been an incredible journey to get to this point but never did I ever think about packing it in. Never thought I was done.” Hill said while trying to hold back his emotions.
Hill also explained why it was so important for him to stay in Los Angeles, “Its just the fan base that’s in LA, the passion and the intensity to win. We want to be apart of that, we want to bring a championship to LA.”
The signing of Hill places him right behind Clayton Kershaw and ahead of Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias in the starting rotation for Los Angeles. By adding Hill to the rotation it gives Los Angeles a quality chance at winning there forth National League West title.
YANKEES UPDATE: The New York Yankees made pitching a priority for this year’s winter meetings. General manager Brian Cashman also expressed his interest in speaking with Rich Hill’s agent. But an offer to Hill would not make sense for the Yankees who have spent their last recent years batting through injuries and aged contracts. Hill is turning 37-years old and is injury prone. By not signing Hill, the Yankees have proven their focus is on building a younger and reliable core.
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