Last year at Scranton, Florial hit .283 with 15 HRs and 39 stolen bases - second-most in the International League. He bats LH, a Yankee need. He plays CF, a Yankee necessity. This spring, he led the team in SBs, a Yankee imperative. He strikes out too often, for sure. But you wonder how all that promise led to such a dead end street. After eight years of prospect hype, Florial is gone, and the Yankees will likely get nothing in return. That's baseball, eh?
But here's the rub: Florial will disappear not because he lost in competition to other players. He simply couldn't outdo a deal - Aaron Hicks' contract, to be specific.
And that, folks, is Yankee baseball.
On almost every other MLB team, Florial would have been kept, and the 33-year-old Hicks discarded. He's younger, faster, cheaper, a better fielder and with far more upside, despite the Ks. (Which also plague Hicks.)
The problem: Hicks' too-big-to-fail contract runs for three more seasons at about $10 million per year (with a 2026 buyout.) It doesn't matter that Hicks has floundered since 2018, when the deal came down. It doesn't matter that Hicks is perpetually recovering from some tweak or strain, injuries that have wrecked his career. What matters are the zeros on that paper.
Listen: As Yank fans, we should bear no malice toward Hicks. He certainly does not deserve to be booed. Over the years, he's shown himself a loyal teammate. To my knowledge, nobody has ever questioned his injuries. He runs hard and plays hard, though last year, as his game deteriorated, he let frustrations overcome him and was embarrassed a few times. Most of all, we should never blame him for signing a contract that will feed his family for life. He'd have been an April fool to say no.
It's being reported that Hicks has asked Yankee management to clarify his role with the 2023 team. He wants to play. He wants to contribute. He wants to know their plans for him.
With due respect, Hicks should keep quiet.
When he signed that wondrous contract in 2019, he was delivering his soul to Mephistopheles. You sign on the dotted line, and the outcomes aren't always what you expected.
Crazy things happen on April Fools Day. This time, it was Florial, who took the jolt. But, at least for now, Florial is free. And if the Yankees have a stack of papers sitting out in left field, well, that's just Aaron Hicks.
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21 comments:
The money now being spent on Hicks is essentially fire starter paper.
The team would have been better with Florial as last OF on bench rather than Hicks.
Just from pure embarrassment, you would think that Hicks would ask to get released. They started IKF in CF, rather than him.
But, Cashman is a genius and I am not.
This is Hicks' 11th season - he had one pretty decent year in 2017 where he batted OK but missed 10 weeks with moans and groans, and one good year in 2018 when he hit well and stayed on the field. That's it though. Outside of those two seasons the rest of his career he's been the model of the oft-injured mediocre guy with the albatross contract.
Seems like a nice person and a good teammate, although the torrential spitting is disgusting as hell, but he just isn't good and he never really has been. He's like an outfield version of Aaron Boone, a guy you think and he thinks is better than he actually is.
DFA him, which is what we should've done last year. Eat the money. Let him get picked up by someone else, maybe where he can have a couple decent years.
Give the guy a break and let him go.
What is truly amazing to me is that Hicks is not starting in LF. Could it be that Yankee management really wants to try to win this year?
Well, they still have him on the bench, just in case somebody gets hurt. And yeah, that's a role that Florial or anyone else in the minors could cover for major league minimum.
I say chances are good that Hicks stays here until his contract expires. Because that's how this front office operates.
I guess what Hicks is saying is that he wants to be released, so that he can go somewhere else as JM says above, and compete for a starting role, or at least have a bigger role than he does here. Which is a fair beef on his part.
I have to confess that, when I heard about Hicks bitching about playing time, my first angry reaction was that he should just shut up and pick up his paycheck every week. But, thinking it over again, it's not a good thing for the club to do this to him. True, he's under contract, as El Duque says. Howeva, he's played hard and tried his best. A first class organization lets him go, if that's what he wants. They'll have to eat the money. No one forced the Yankees to give him that ridiculous contract. Cut the guy and bring in younger blood.
Give HIM a break and let him ego?
Give US a break and let him go.!
LOL!! Yeah, well...let's say it would be "mutually beneficial," Dick.
I see we sent Brito back to Scranton. According to Boone, "We don't need a fifth starter now."
I hate the way they treat these kids. They do bad, they're sent down. They do good, they're sent down.
Meanwhile, Hicks and Donaldson have roster spots.
Duque:
You gave him more time than he has coming. The guy is a stiff and has always been. Only a doofus like Genius Cashman would have extended Barren Hicks. Now the Yankees are stuck with him.
Why send down Brito? Because the NYY braintrust is already putting a strain on the bullpen.
Game 1 -- 3 BP guys used for a total of 3 innings. Marashino used for 2 innings
Game 2 -- 5 BP guys used for a total of 5.2 innings. Abreu used for 2 innings.
Game 3 -- 3 BP guys used for 4 innings. Marashino for 1.1, Brewer for 2.0.
One reliever has been used 2x in 4 days for 3.1 innings. Two other guys were used for 2 innings each.
I'm not sure they'll bring up an arm (to take Brito's roster spot). But if they're going to burn thru the BP like this, it makes sense.
That's 11 appearances by relievers in 3 games. Projecting that out to a full season, and you get -- a bullpen full of Scott Proctors. Or worse. Don't tell me it's because of lame-ass and injured starters -- Cole started a game, got in 6 innings. Needed relievers to complete it. Probably what can be expected of him for a full season anyway...
Note: None of this counts relievers who got up to warm up and didn't get into the game.
Maybe be Hal won’t let hi be DFA’d . Ca$hman blew $70m on him. Make it work
Transfer Hoover Hicks to a front office job. Make him Sabean’s assistant in player development and deployment.
I hear upper management personnel get access to the team’s wifi password- so there are substantial perks.
Hoover Hicks would still stay on the active roster and make history as MLBs first player/assistant GM
Some clarifications...
1) Hicks didn't seek out a reporter to complain to. He was asked by a reporter from the Athletic about what he thought his role was and answered it honestly.
Should he have said nothing? Yeah. But it's not like he was looking for someone to bitch to.
2) He's owed 30 MILLION dollars. Nobody... well nobody sane, walks away from that kind of money no matter how bruised their ego.
3) No other team wants him. The Yankees have been trying to trade him for years. No takers. I'm sure they've offered to pay a % of his contract. No takers.
They could/should buy him out and give the 40 man spot to someone else but if they don't then this is what is.
4) Same with Donaldson. No takers. Plus, we don't have a third baseman in the wings that he is blocking. Plus, he's gone after this year when his contract does expire. His defense is fine and anything else we get out of him is a bonus. He's an asshole but we would be served by lowering our expectations. He's not worth the 25M. But he is worth half that.
5) As Joe FOB points out... Brito will be back. They need relievers right now.
Very nice clarifications, Doug.
We should all be pleased with how Brito and Brewer pitched for us this weekend.
They could be our new Killer B's.
Doug, you want us to lower our expectations for Donaldson?!?!?
How much lower could they possibly get?
I guess my comment never went through so I'll try again. Not that it was all that noteworthy.
I agree that Yankees fans should have no malice towards Hicks as a person. But as player he is horrible. Has been for most of his career. Therefore, he should be booed lustily and relentlessly.
The Yankees should be inventive in any proposed buyout of Hick's contract. For instance pay him 2/3 of his salary due over the next 3 years if he accepts it now and "retires" early. He could always unretire and hook up with another team for MLB minimum. It's a win-win for both parties.
Of course, Hal would never back such a plan.
Brito: yes, one would think he’ll be back as soon as we need a fifth starter. He threw strikes yesterday, and used his change up very effectively (all his K’s came with the change) Who else would they use - Ryan Weber?
Bullpen…when your starters barely go 5 innings, what else can you do? Effective roster construction isn’t just at the MLB level, but the entire 40 man roster. Unfortunately Cashman gutted much of our minor league pitching depth with his disastrous trade line deals which netted us absolutely nothing. As I opined previously, part of the problem is pitchers, particularly starters, don’t throw enough.
Hicks? Pretty much we’re all right. Boone is the ultimate players manager and will find him some AB’s. Doug K. said it above, nobody else wants him, and why would they? His ridiculous contract extension was an abject failure by Cashman. The stupidity of a long term contract after one good season, LOL. Personally, I dislike long term contracts, as the teams and fans always regret them. This will happen with Cole, Rodon DJL, and even Judge. At some point Judge will move to 1B and finally morph into a DH, while his salary prevents the team on spending on the rest of the roster. None of this troubles ownership/management, so long as the $$$ keeps rolling in. I like Carl’s suggestion, not sure if it’s permitted under contract. At some point they team will simply release him, just not anytime soon.
Hicks will be gone by the deadline, one way or another. His 10/5 rights kick in, and NFW will management allow That to happen. I guess that the "logic" works out that management is gambling that they will get more Hicks (assuming he doesn't fall off a cliff) than Florial. Wait, that sounded stupid even as I type. I'm tired of the Florial sympathy, he's been in the org. for eight years now, and still can't hit the curve. And at age 24-25 his numbers last year can't be trusted, he's a bit old for the level. Still, he has more potential than Hicks, and that's worth something. Right?
Hicks gets paid 40 million thru 2027, whether he's playing for the Yankees, someone else or lounging on a beach. He can pull the play me or trade me card. But his spring performance changed nobody's mind. His head is in the clouds on defense, his best contribution at the plate is drawing a walk and the prima donna attitude impresses nobody. So, the bench is where he belongs.
But NYC Real estate is expensive, including the Yankee bench. If he can't contribute, the Yankees should release him. Payroll is not a sufficient reason to keep him. Maybe someone else pick him up. Then the Yankees can enjoy the league minimum wage rebate for DFA'd players.
Then they should frame and hang his contract in the lobby of the front office, on the Brian Cashman Memorial Wall of Shame - next to Ellsbury's and Pavano's - as cautionary tales.
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