Adam Lind is enjoying great success in 2011 while longtime Jays teammate Aaron Hill is struggling.
Teammates since 2006, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill are the longest serving Blue Jays on a team in the second year of a multi-season rebuild.
In 2009, they represented the present and future of the franchise. Both had breakout seasons that saw them honoured as Silver Sluggers, and both received votes in the MVP balloting with Hill finishing 12th and Lind 15th. Hill's 36 home runs and 108 RBIs that season obliterated offensive records for a Blue Jays second baseman. Lind's 35 HRs and 114 RBIs put him among the top left-handed hitters in club history, in the same stratosphere as Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green.
Lind took a step back in 2010, suffering a fall-off in all offensive categories, most notably 42 fewer RBIs than in '09. To the trained eye, it appeared that Lind was having trouble adjusting to the new approach that opposition pitchers were taking, causing him to pull the ball more than he did in the past.
This season, he has regained his stroke while learning a new position -- first base -- after shuttling between left field and designated hitter in the past. His play at first has been without incident and he has turned into a solid defender.
Ultimately, he rediscovered his stroke and has hit in the cleanup spot behind Jose Bautista all season, providing some much needed protection for the Jays' -- and baseball's -- best slugger. His value was never more apparent than during the last road trip where teams have started to pitch around Bautista on a regular basis.
On June 8 in Kansas City, Royals' manager Ned Yost intentionally walked Bautista to load the bases and Lind made him pay, blasting his second career grand slam to lead the Jays to a victory. Lind's 14 HRs and 32 RBIs over his past 26 games, wrapped around a trip to the disabled list due to a sore back, puts him among the most productive and lethal hitters in the game today.
For Hill, the sky appeared to be the limit. He had bounced back from a concussion suffered the previous year when he was elbowed in the head while chasing down a pop up, ending his season after just 55 games. Seemingly healthy, and armed with a multi-year contract, more was expected last season. And while he did finish with 26 home runs, good for fourth among MLB second basemen, the rest of his numbers fell off significantly, with 40 fewer RBIs and a batting average that fell from .286 to .205.
Granted, he was slowed by nagging right hamstring injury that sent him to the disabled, but when he returned his bat had slowed and he was a step shorter on defence. Still more of the same this season with another stint on the DL due to a leg injury, his average sitting on the .240s and just three home runs with the season 44 per cent in the books.
One has to wonder how much the Jays declining to pick up one of the three club options on his contract has weighed on Hill mentally. And now, with the team extending Yunel Escobar's contract for upwards of four more years and with top mid-infield prospect Adeiny Hechavarria coursing his way towards the majors -- with $10 million already invested -- is the clock ticking on Hill's time in Toronto?
Two players providing two differing levels of success making one wonder how much longer they'll remain teammates.
SMART SIGNING
The contract extension afforded to Escobar -- $5 million a year through 2013, with two additional club options -- is the type of deal that will not hamstring the Blue Jays financially and provide options moving forward. Alex Anthopoulos continues to identify his building blocks of the future... so far he has four on long-term contracts.
> Jose Bautista, under team control through 2016
> Adam Lind, through 2016
> Ricky Romero, through 2016
> Yunel Escobar, through 2015
With the wealth of prospects climbing their way towards the Rogers Centre, this is just the type of payroll flexibility needed for when these young players finally arrive in the majors.
A perfect storm, if you will.
