Acquired via trade from Minnesota for John Ryan Murphy in November of 2015, the Yankees and their fans hoped that Aaron Hicks would develop into a solid fourth outfielder. But so far, he’s accomplished much more than that.
Heading into spring training in 2017, then-Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided to stage a competition between Hicks and Aaron Judge to determine which player would open the season as New York’s starting right fielder. Although many fans guffawed, believing that the job rightfully belong to Judge, the competition proved a stroke of genius.