Aaron Hill Signs Extension With Diamondbacks

The Diamondback have given former Blue Jay first round draft pick Aaron Hill a three-year contract extension, details are below, from the SB Nation News Desk. After his last couple of seasons with us, I never thought he'd be signing another large contract. It seems like the change in scenery did him the world of good. That trade for Kelly Johnson didn't work out for us at all.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have come to an agreement on a three-year, $35 million contract extension with second baseman Aaron Hill, reports Buster Olney of ESPN:

Aaron Hill has finished a three-year, $35 million extension with the Diamondbacks. Arizona officials intend to announce the deal later today

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 8, 2013

Hill, who came to the D'Backs in a late-2011 swap with the Blue Jays for fellow middle infielder Kelly Johnson, had been engaged in extension talks with Arizona for several weeks. The two sides opened preliminary discussions about a deal in mid-January, and were hoping to finish the deal before the season began, which they accomplished in plenty of time.

The 30-year-old infielder was coming off two consecutive disappointing seasons when he arrived in Phoenix in August 2011, and immediately thrived in his new environment. A .265/.318/.413 hitter in his seven seasons with Toronto, Hill has batted a much-improved .304/.364/.517 with 28 home runs in his season-plus with the D'Backs.

While a single season's worth of numbers isn't typically the best sample to rely on for predicting future success, Arizona must see something in Hill that gives them confidence that his Silver Slugger season won't be an outlier.

Hill is the third D'Backs player to agree to a multi-year extension this winter, joining closer J.J. Putz and third baseman Martin Prado.

An official announcement from AZ should come later today.

This story was originally published at MLB Daily Dish.