Red Sox acquire infielder Hill from Brewers for two prospects

The Boston Red Sox announced the acquisition of infielder Aaron Hill from the Milwaukee Brewers today. 

The Brewers received two prospects in return for Hill: right-hander Aaron Wilkerson and infielder Wendell Rijo. 

The 34-year-old Hill finds himself with his third organization in the past two years. After a stint in Arizona with the Diamondbacks that lasted five years, Hill was dealt to the Brewers this offseason in the Jean Segura trade. Now, he heads to Boston. 

Hill's primary position is second base, but he has spent time at shortstop and at third base in the past. He'll likely fill in at all three of those spots, though it appears that he will be used as a right-handed complement to Travis Shaw, a lefty, at third. 

In 292 plate appearances this season in 78 games, Hill is hitting for a .283/.359/.421 slash line with eight home runs and 29 RBI. He has been worth 4.6 offensive runs above average this season but has been worth -1.2 defensive runs above average. Overall, Hill has a 1.3 fWAR, making 2016 his most productive season in four years. 

Hill's trade value has spiked over the past month or so. 

In his last 20 games, Hill has hit .333 with a .838 OPS. Fueled by a .381 BABIP, Hill added two home runs and eight RBI over his 85 plate appearances. This productivity showed that he still has some life left in his bat and could be serviceable at least in a platoon role going forward. 

It's hard to know if the Red Sox gave up too much to get Hill, though. With a struggling rotation, trading Aaron Wilkerson does not make too much sense. 

Wilkerson is 27, but he is dominating in Triple-A, prompting some to plead the Red Sox to bring him up to the Majors. Wilkerson has a 2.44 ERA in nine games (eight starts) with Pawtucket, backing up his good ERA with a solid 54 to 11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48 innings. 

He was pitching in independent ball as recently 2014, when the Red Sox decided to add him as minor league depth. Over the first few months of the season, though, he's looked like more than just depth. It'll be interesting to see how he does in Milwaukee. 

Rijo, on the other hand, is on the prospect radar. He ranked as the Red Sox's 17th-best prospect prior to the season, according to MLB.com. The second baseman has struggled to a .186 batting average and a .510 OPS in his first taste of Double-A, though. 

Overall, the Red Sox are adding depth to their already stacked lineup in Aaron Hill, though at the cost of a potentially helpful rotation arm. 

--Devan Fink

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