The New York Yankees were wheelin’ and dealin’ Wednesday as they pulled off a couple trades, one of which was with the Minnesota Twins. New York will be sending catcher John Ryan Murphy to the 'Twin Cities' in exchange for outfielder Aaron Hicks.
Aaron Hicks is a switch hitter who can play all three outfield positions and has three years of major league experience. For his career, Hicks is slashing .225/.306/.349 with 20 homers and 78 RBI. Last season in 97 games, he hit 11 homers with 33 RBI and a .256 average. Hicks was the 14th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Hicks, 26, is tabbed as a replacement for Chris Young and potentially Brett Gardner, who has been rumored to be potentially on the move to Seattle. He was good against lefties last season, hitting .307 with six home runs. In Hicks’ career, he has hit .272 with 10 long balls versus southpaws.
John Ryan Murphy was the Yankees backup and sometimes third catcher this past season. In his three seasons in pinstripes, Murphy has slashed .267/.311/.374 with four homers and 24 RBI. He was a second round pick by the Yankees in 2009.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talked about the trade saying, “This is an independent, straight up, good old-fashioned baseball trade -- a lot of talent for a lot of talent. I think Minnesota got a good player, and I certainly hope we got a good player. It provides us flexibility as we move forward to do some things, but that's not why I did the trade."
Cashman also talked about letting Murphy go. “I think the Twins got an everyday catcher. He was a backup for us because of Brian McCann, but he's an everyday catcher who we just matched up, area of strength for area of strength. So here we are."