Rich Hill goes from nearly out of baseball to $48M deal

Those days of pitching for the Long Island Ducks, out of the majors and almost out of luck, happily seem far away now for Rich Hill.

The left-hander who resurrected his career after a detour to independent ball got stability and a lot more Monday. The free agent re-signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for three years and $48 million US.

"I think it's something that has been an incredible journey to get to this point, but never did I ever think that I would pack it in," the 36-year-old Hill said at the winter meetings in suburban Washington.

"I never thought I was done," he said.

Still, to many, he seemed stuck. At least, that's how it appeared when he threw twice for the Ducks in 2015 in what amounted to a tryout. That earned him a shot with Boston to end the season, and then he flourished this year.

Hill went a combined 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA in 20 starts for the Dodgers and Oakland. He was 3-2 with a 1.83 ERA in six starts for Los Angeles after being acquired in a five-player deal on the Aug. 1 trade deadline

Hill was 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA in three post-season starts for the NL West champion Dodgers, tossing six scoreless innings to win Game 3 of the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.

"When you fail, you learn. I don't think you really know what failure is — or I didn't know what failure was until I got older and understood that that was experience," he said.

Health has been a big key to Hill's resurgence. He has endured serious injuries throughout his career, including a torn labrum in 2009 and elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2011.

Threw 7 perfect innings in September

Hill threw seven perfect innings against Miami last Sept. 10, but manager Dave Roberts removed Hill from the game because of a recurrence of blisters on his pitching hand. He also had a groin injury.

"I think it's such an outlier from last year, the way that that blister was — how it came about, it wasn't necessarily a typical pitcher's blister that you would think of, it was more of a wound, so to speak. I think moving forward there would be no issues moving forward with that," Hill said.

His presence gives the Dodgers another left-hander besides ace Clayton Kershaw in the rotation.

Hill has a 38-28 career record with a 4.10 ERA in 221 games in 12 major league season with the Cubs, Orioles, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Yankees, A's and Dodgers.

Hill gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $12 million next year, $16 million in 2018 and $18 million in 2019.

"I guess it's a relief in a way," said wife Caitlin, who joined Hill at a news conference, along with Dodgers management and his agents, brothers Sam and Seth Levinson. "We're not surprised. I think he always knew that he could do this."

Mark Melancon signs with Giants

The San Francisco Giants landed the top-tier closer they have been seeking for months, agreeing to a $62 million, four-year contract with right-hander Mark Melancon on Monday.

It's the richest contract ever for a closer, topping Jonathan Papelbon's $50 million, four-year deal with the Phillies from 2012-15 and Mariano Rivera's $15 million annual value total in 2011-12 by the Yankees.

"Really excited to have Mark," manager Bruce Bochy said in a text message. "Got to know him on a trip to Taiwan in 2011. Fills an important need for us. Great to get one of the premier closers in the game."

Pending a physical, the pitcher receives a $20 million signing bonus, $8 million of which is deferred, then salaries of $4 million for 2017, $10 million in '18 and $14 million in each of the `19 and 2020 seasons. He has a full no-trade clause.

Ex-Jay Benoit to Philadelphia: report

A person familiar with the negotiations says reliever Joaquin Benoit and the Philadelphia Phillies have agreed to a $7.5 million, one-year contract.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Monday because the agreement had not yet been announced.

Benoit, a 39-year-old right-hander, has had an ERA under 3.00 for six of the past seven years. He was 3-1 with a 2.81 ERA last season, including a 0.38 ERA after the Toronto Blue Jays acquired him from Seattle on July 26 for reliever Drew Storen.