Farm Report Home

Prospects by Minor League Team

Prospects by Position

Prospects by Draft Year

Depth Chart

Interviews

Prospects Stats at Same Level

Minor League Team Reports

Comings and Goings

Graduating Class

Links

Send me an e-mail

Drafted 2003 - First round from College

Hill was JP's second first round draft choice; like Russ Adams he is a SS. Hill has a short sharp stroke and scouts love his bat; Hill has good power to all fields. Some scouts project Hill at third base, he hits well enough to play there. Hill's ability to play SS in the majors is "under review" but his bat will mean there is a spot for him at 2nd or 3rd. Hill has played well in his first two seasons and is headed for AAA and a September 2005 call-up. Hill was named the Jay's #6 prospect for 2004 by Baseball America. John Sickels gave Hill a B+ rating.

2005 Outlook

After a successful year at AA, Hill will move up to AAA.

2004

Hill was assigned to AA New Hampshire to start the season and had a slow start. As a California boy, who played college ball in Louisiana, the cold New Hampshire spring was a shock for Aaron. Once the weather warmed up so did Hill. Hill maintained his excellent batting eye and hit a little under .300 from May to the end of the season. Many hitters compalined about the hitting background in New Hampshire so Hill's numbers might be low. Hill's power was not as strong as expected but he was only 22 years old so look for him to be stronger in 2005. Hill was a last minute addition to the Futures Game and ended as MVP.

2003

Hill started at Low A where he dominated in 33 games with an OPS of 938. Hill was promoted to High A where he played 32 more games. His numbers were not as strong but first year draftees often tail off at the end of their long first pro year.

Here is what Batters Box had to say about Hill's season: I don’t know who the Blue Jays are going to choose with their first-round draft pick next June – they choose 16th, by the way – but I think I can safely bet the mortgage payment that it won’t be a shortstop. Following the selection of UNC’s Russ Adams in his first draft, JP Ricciardi went to another major college in 2003 and came away with LSU’s Aaron Hill, a solid, compact (5’11”, 195 lbs) infielder with an accurate arm and good instincts around the bag, less speed but more pop than Adams. Offensively, he’s a gap hitter who’s going to add more power as he gets stronger, but will never be a slugger. Like his predecessor Adams, he’s an on-base machine who takes the pitches he doesn’t want and drives the ones he does. Defensively, some scouts think his range will eventually make him better suited for third base than shortstop, but JP has said that Hill is a shortstop until he proves otherwise.

Baseball America drew a comparison to Rich Aurilia, while JP said Hill reminded him a little of Craig Biggio. I don’t have a specific player comp in mind, but I do think he’ll be the kind of guy who does almost everything – hit, walk, hit for extra bases, field, score and lead – very well. Like Adams, Hill is not going to be a superstar player, but he will be a very solid contributor with both the bat and the glove. He should eventually wind up hitting 15 HRs a year in the bigs, probably with an average in the .275-.290 range, strong OBP numbers and extremely reliable defence. After ripping up the NY-Penn League, Aaron did very well at Dunedin, with an especially impressive BB/K rate, and kept his batting average high. Like Adams, expect Hill to start 2003 in the Florida State League and make a mid-season leap to Double-A. It’s not a stretch at all to suggest Adams and Hill could be the double-play combo and the 1-2 hitters for your 2006 Toronto Blue Jays.

Season Statistics

2004 Monthly Statistics

Created on ... November 4, 2003