Rich Hill wanted to be a starting pitcher again badly enough that he went to the independent leagues this summer to get it done, reinventing himself in the process.
Things clicked, and now the left-hander is all but locked into the Oakland rotation after the A’s finalized his one-year, $6 million signing as a free agent Friday.
Hill had a good spring with Toronto, but struggled with his control at Triple-A Syracuse and moved on to the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League with the stipulation that he would go back to starting after having pitched mostly relief since 2010.