Aaron Hicks (34), who once played an active role as a strong dog outfielder representing Major League Baseball (MLB), has no place to go.
The New York Yankees announced today (21st) that Hicks has been put on standby.
Picked by the Minnesota Twins with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the 2008 MLB Draft, Hicks made his big league debut in 2013 before being traded to the Yankees in 2016.
In the Yankees, Hicks made a leap forward as the main outfielder, boasting a strong throwing power of over 100 miles per hour (about 161 km), a long hitting power that can expect a double-digit home run, and even a pioneering plan.
In 2018, he had a great year with a batting average of 0.248, an on-base percentage of 0.366, 27 homers, 79 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.833, ranking 22nd in the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) vote.
Based on these results, Hicks signed a seven-year, $70 million (approximately 93 billion won) long-term contract ahead of the 2019 season.
However, right after his long-term contract, Hicks fell into a swamp of sluggishness and injuries like a lie and couldn’t get out of it.
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In 2019, he showed slugging power with 12 home runs while only participating in 59 games due to injury, but since then he has not hit a double-digit home run.
In 2022, even though he played in 130 games, he had a batting average of 0.216, 8 home runs, and 40 RBIs, and this year, his performance fell further with a batting average of 0.188, 1 home run, and 5 RBIs in 28 games.
Running out of patience, the Yankees opted to part ways with Hicks, who had a contract guaranteed until 2025.
Hicks, who is on standby for release, is free to move to another team if another club offers to sign him for the next week, and if there is no offer, he must go to the minor leagues or leave the team.
The Yankees removed Hicks from their 40-man roster and replaced him with transfer outfielder Greg Allen.
The Yankees acquired Allen from the Boston Red Sox on the 20th in exchange for minor league pitcher Diego Hernandez and cash.먹튀검증
Debuting in the big leagues in 2017, Allen’s career numbers are a .232 batting average, 10 home runs, 45 stolen bases, and 67 RBIs, and he has not played in a single major league game this year.
Aaron Boone, manager of the Yankees, said, “Hicks had a good season on our team even though he had his ups and downs. “The club had to make a decision to make room for Allen,” he said.