The New York Yankees acquired center fielder Aaron Hicks from the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, sending catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Twin Cities in exchange.
Hicks, 26, posted a .256/.323/.398 slash line with 11 home runs and 33 RBI in 2015. He posted career highs in games played (97) and at-bats (352), while showing flashes of true power for the first time in parts of three seasons with the Twins.
In exchange, the Yankees give up the 24-year-old Murphy who spent his first full season in the Majors during the 2015 campaign. His .277 batting average is 67 games played (43 starts) ranked him third among AL catchers with a minimum of 100 at-bats, behind Baltimore's Steve Clevenger and Tampa Bay's John Jaso. New York selected Murphy in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.
As for Hicks, the Twins believe him to be expendable as they plan to move Miguel Sano from third base out to center fielder, citing his athleticism as a primary factor in that decision. However, they're giving up an elite defender in Hicks who has experience playing in all three outfield slots. While Hicks doesn't project to be any higher than a 20/90 guy, there's still tremendous upside there heading into his fourth MLB season.
We'll have more as this breaking story develops.
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