Land of the Leaf

Word from MLB Trade Rumors is that the San Diego Padres have signed Shawn Hill.  The Blue Jays were in the running for acquiring his services as well, as we reported oh so prematurely yesterday.  Good, I’m glad, we don’t need you anyway.  We already have a Canadian pitcher, and he’s better than you, and healthier.  You and Mark Prior will have lots to talk about, in a bar watching games saying things like “remember when we used to do that?”.  Todd Van Poppel will probably be there too.

J.P. Ricciardi continues to roll the dice on pitchers with injury-riddled careers.  Add Shawn Hill’s name to the list of pitchers that the Jays hope can contribute to their rotation at some point this season.  The Mississauga native has had a lot of trouble with the elbow on his throwing arm for the past 3 seasons, but in limited work with Washington in 2007 Hill had a 3.42 ERA and a nifty 1.14 WHIP.  Hill also starred for Canada in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Hill’s ability has never really be questioned, he could have been a reliable mid-late rotation pitcher on most teams, but his durability has kept him from really developing.  With Matt Clement currently competing for a spot in the rotation, and Wade Miller working in minor-league camp, Ricciardi hopes that one or two veteran arms can ease the load on their younger pitchers:

“We wouldn’t be signing him to come in here and make the major-league staff… We’d have to get him up to speed, kind of like Wade Miller. We’re just trying to get as many arms as we can in here. We know the young kids are going to struggle. … We’re trying to put them in spots they might not be ready for. We get some veteran guys here and they can hold the fort down. … It gives us enough experience where we can just ease them in as opposed to throwing them in.”

(Hat-Tip MLBTradeRumors)