There was a Joel Sherman report today that the NYY were talking trade with Seattle for Brett Gardner. Picking up Hicks could be seen as a precursor
Presumably they'd add Heyward or Upton, right? I doubt Hicks is being brought in to start.If this leads to Gardner being traded I'll be ecstatic. Gardner really sets things up for their offense and he has more pop than Ellsbury at this point. They would surely miss him.
But if they can move Gardner for an upgrade elsewhere than the Yankees could be looking at a nice overall upgrade. Cashman is trying to get younger and cheaper in the places he can make it happen. I think Gardner is a goner but I think Cashman can get something good for him.Agree that the trade makes sense for both teams, trading from positions of depth. MN's really thin at C.
Hicks is "toolsy" but has been maddeningly inconsistent, with whispers of stubbornness/coachability concerns. That said, he was a plus player this past season - playing for Molitor might have helped. He's not as good as Gardner, though...
I think they're trying to shed some money by dealing Gardner but you never know with the Yankees.Presumably they'd add Heyward or Upton, right? I doubt Hicks is being brought in to start.
Nice deal for the Yankees. Hicks seems like a decent estimate for what JBJs trade value is.
870 OPS hitting right and the power bump that should come from the short porch when hitting left at home makes for a pretty decent player when you add in his defense.Hicks against LHP: 870 OPS in 112 PA
Hicks against RHP: 661 OPS in 251 PA
If it wasn't for Sanchez, I wouldn't be a big fan of this deal. Murphy's bat showed some promising signs this year and his defense has vastly improved. He was considered a bat-first catcher as a prospect, so the thought was that if his d improved, he could be a good everyday catcher. I don't think he's gonna hit like the Yankees initially hoped he would, but I do think he can be a regular starting catcher in the majors.This seems to me like an unbelievably good deal for the Yankees. Maybe I'm under rating Murphy though.
I was wondering why I wasn't getting my timely Yankee news. You always beat me to finding out all of the trades.I'm back, I didn't realize SoSH was back because it wasn't showing up at all for me, and I had serious withdrawal when this deal went down. When the Kimbrel deal happened today, I googled about it, saw that SoSH actually was back, got Sumner to help and here I am, I know you all missed me (not).
I really like this deal, Murphy had a good second half hitting and is solid defensively, but since there was no way they could move McCann (big contract, no-trade), I love freeing up the spot for Gary Sanchez, even if Romine takes the job initially out of spring training.