New York Flop Finds New Home in Star City – How Much Money Do the Yankees Still Owe Aaron Hicks?

There has been plenty of movement happening with respect to the New York Yankees. While there had been quite a buzz about big names linked to the Yanks like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and of course, Juan Soto, the story of the New York flop is not one to ignore either. With the latest news about the Los Angeles Angels, Aaron Hicks and the Yanks have unfinished business. 

The Angels and veteran outfielder Hicks, formerly from the Yankees, have agreed to a one-year contract on Monday. With this move, the Halos have added him to an outfield mix alongside Mike Trout. Despite the 34-year-old not being able to perform well in the Bronx, the “Yankees are still paying for their mistake.”

The New York Yankees’ Hefty Price For a Past Misstep

Hicks who is still a part of the seven-year, $70 million contract had initially signed with the Big Apple mega-franchise. Their contract extends through 2025. As per the deal, Hicks receives $9.5 million this year (2024) followed by $9.5 million in 2025. Now, this also includes a buyout price of $1 million for a club option the following year (2026). Having said that,is  the Yankees bear the responsibility for its entirety barring a minimum of $740,000 which Los Angeles is responsible for. 

The Yankees released the infamous ‘New York Flop’ after he slashed a bare .188/.263/.261 through the initiation period of 2023. The twist of the tale was when he improved drastically as he joined their division rival the Baltimore Orioles soon after. In Baltimore, through the 65 remaining games, the slash line he recorded was .275/.381/.425. Though the tables turned later, the Yankees’ intent to onboard him was based on his past stats.  

Between the years 2017 and 2020, Hicks’ displayed his best. He had an impressive .819 OPS and also bagged 60 home runs. As per FanGraphs in 338 games he recorded 8.7 wins above replacement. Though he had a poor stint with the NYY, the Angels seem hopeful. But will his addition impact Mike Trout’s position? 

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Aaron Hicks’ Future and the Past

Attending to that query Perry Minasian, the Angels’ GM said, “Mike’s our center fielder”. He further added insights on how he believes Aaron Hicks can be leveraged to their advantage. “..you need players that can play multiple positions. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. He’s somebody that’s played center; he played center last year for Baltimore in certain instances, obviously a very good team that made the playoffs. He can play right, he can play left, he can really throw, so he’s somebody that can help us in a lot of different ways,” he shared through a video conference. 

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Speaking of new teams, it is impossible to forget what happened right before Hicks moved to the Orioles. The California-born started to hear loud boos from the Yankees fans as he played with the Bronx Bombers during his final days on the team. He addressed what had happened saying, “Yeah [I was expecting the reaction]. The way that this year was going, things that I’ve been hearing while I was out there when I was here”. While not much could have been done about the booing, certainly now the Yanks are paying heftily for what turned out to be a misstep.