Dodgers sign left-hander Hill for three years, $48 million
Those days of pitching for the Long Island Ducks, out of the majors and almost out of luck, happily seem far away now for Rich Hill.
The left-hander who resurrected his career after a detour to independent ball got stability and a lot more Monday. The free agent resigned with the Los Angeles Dodgers for three years and $48 million.
“I think it’s something that has been an incredible journey to get to this point, but never did I ever think that I would pack it in,” Hill, 36, said at the winter meetings in suburban Washington.
Still, to many, he seemed stuck. At least, that’s how it appeared when he threw twice for the Ducks in 2015 in what amounted to a tryout. That earned him a shot with Boston Red Sox to end the season, and then he flourished this year.
Hill went a combined 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA in 20 starts for the Dodgers and Oakland Athletics. He was 3-2 with a 1.83 ERA in six starts for Los Angeles after being acquired in a five-player deal on the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
“When you fail, you learn. I don’t think you really know what failure is — or I didn’t know what failure was until I got older and understood that that was experience,” he said.
Hill has a 38-28 career record with a 4.10 ERA in 221 games in 12 major league season. He gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $12 million next year, $16 million in 2018 and $18 million in 2019.
Astros
Carlos Beltran, who turns 40 in April, and Houston finalized a $16 million, oneyear contract. Beltran hit a combined .295 with 29 home runs and 93 RBIs last season for the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. The switch-hitter split his time as a designated hitter and right fielder, playing 151 games. He is a nine-time All-Star and has hit .323 with 16 homers and 41 RBIs in 55 postseason games. He spent the last half of the 2004 season with the Astros and hit a postseason record-tying eight home runs. In 19 seasons, Beltran is a career .281 hitter with 421 home runs and 1,536 RBIs with seven clubs.
Red Sox
Boston exercised the 2018 option on manager John Farrell’s contract. Farrell won the World Series in his first season with the Red Sox in 2013 and led them back to the playoffs last season. He’s 339-309 in four seasons in Boston.
Cubs
Chicago gave their longsuffering fans a World Series championship last season and now fans are going to have to give the Cubs something: More money. The team said the average season ticket price at Wrigley Field will climb 19.5 percent next season. The best seats will go up the most: 31 percent for club box infield seats and 22 percent for seats in the bleachers. Other seats will go up between 6 percent and 17 percent. The increase marks the second consecutive season the team has raised the face value of its tickets by at least 10 percent.
Phillies
A person familiar with the negotiations said reliever Joaquin Benoit agreed to a $7.5 million, one-year contract. Benoit, a 39-year-old right-hander, has had an ERA under 3.00 for six of the past seven years. He was 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA last season, including a 0.38 ERA after the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him from Seattle on July 26 for reliever Drew Storen.