The Toronto Blue Jays have signed 28 year old Canadian born starting pitcher Shawn Hill to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Hill, a right handed native of Mississauga, Ontario was on Toronto’s radar last offseason as well.

Hill opted to sign a contract with the San Diego Padres instead.

Hill, taken in the sixth round of the 2000 First Year Entry Draft has suffered through numerous injuries during a career which has seen stops with the Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals & San Diego Padres.

Hill made three starts for the Padres last April before being sidelined with an arm injury that required surgery in June to repair damage in his throwing elbow.

Hill was released by San Diego in October.

The surgery was a Tommy John ligament replacement operation, the second of Hill’s injury filled career.

Along with the two Tommy John surgeries Hill had an operation to remove calcium deposits and bone spurs from his throwing elbow in September of 2008 and also battled stiffness in his right forearm last spring.

Hill’s career record is 8-16 with an earned run average of 4.95 across 218.1 innings pitched in 40 games, all starts.

The addition of Hill is a low risk, high reward option for the Toronto Blue Jays starting rotation by general manager Alex Anthopoulos.