After giving him plenty of opportunities to turn his career around after two-and-a-half seasons of subpar performance, the New York Yankees released outfielder Aaron Hicks last Friday.
The first step towards getting him off of their roster was designating him for assignment on May 20.
That gave them a few days to work out a trade or place him on waivers.
At 33 years old and making more than $10 million this year, no one was going to claim Hicks.
The Baltimore Orioles certainly weren’t going to pay that price.
However, now that the Yankees are on the hook for the rest of his contract, the O’s are very much interested in Hicks.
“Sources: The Orioles are expressing serious interest in free-agent outfielder Aaron Hicks, who was recently released by the Yankees. There’s a clear fit with Cedric Mullins dealing with a right abductor/groin strain,” MLB insider Robert Murray tweeted.
Sources: The Orioles are expressing serious interest in free-agent outfielder Aaron Hicks, who was recently released by the Yankees. There’s a clear fit with Cedric Mullins dealing with a right abductor/groin strain. First to link Hicks/Orioles: @JoezMcfLy.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) May 30, 2023
Hicks, who had a .524 OPS in 28 games this year with the Yankees, is far from the ballplayer he was in his late-20s.
However, he does have two things the Orioles might be interested in: rebound potential and the ability to play a passable center field.
In fact, Hicks was starting to play better when the Yankees cut ties with him.
Baltimore might be looking at him as a temporary solution knowing that Mullins is likely to require a trip to the injured list.
For that specific role, Hicks might be a good fit.
If the O’s are looking at him as a regular for the rest of the season, they might be disappointed since he hasn’t had an OPS above .790 since 2020.
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