Yankees lose Chris Young to Rival Boston Red Sox
After a down year in 2014 with the New York Mets, Chris Young joined the Yankees in the tail end of the season and quickly earned his pinstripes after slashing an impressive .282/.354/.521 in 79 plate appearances in the Bronx.
His impressive second half run in 2014 earned him a one-year $2.5 MM contract to play with the Yankees in 2015. Serving as a fourth outfielder and left-handed hitting specialist, Young certainly exceeded his contract.
In 2015 the 32-year old veteran slashed .252/.320/.453 in 356 plate appearances. In 175 plate appearances against opposing southpaws, Young batted .327/.397/.575 with seven home runs, 15 doubles and 24 RBI.
Over the course of the past 1.5 seasons with the Bronx Bombers, Chris Young redefined his major league career, but unfortunately his impressive 2015 campaign priced him out of the Yankees budget for a fourth outfielder, and he recently signed a two-year deal with the rival Boston Red Sox worth $13 MM.
The Boston Red Sox will likely platoon Chris Young with Jackie Bradley Jr. and primarily play him against left-handed pitching. If not, Dave Dombrowski and Boston Red Sox might look to make Chris Young an every-day player, which will lead to a block buster trade involving one of their young outfielders that can further hurt the New York Yankees by strengthening the Red Sox roster in the AL East.
As a dead pull hitter, Chris Young and the ‘Green Monster’ should link up well over the course of the next two seasons. As a matter of fact, in 21 career games at Fenway Park, Young has a .344 batting average with a 1.054 OPS.
Either way, the question for the New York Yankees now becomes whether or not the newly acquired Aaron Hicks can match the production left behind by Chris Young.
When the Yankees acquired Hicks from the Minnesota Twins for backstop John Ryan Murphy during the GM Meetings in early November, it was evident that barring a Brett Gardner trade, the Yankees viewed Hicks as a cheaper and younger upgrade over Chris Young.
Over the course of the past three seasons, Hicks has slashed .225/.306/.349 in 928 plate appearances. In 261 career plate appearances against lefties, the 26-year old Aaron Hicks has slashed .272/.360/.447 with an .808 OPS.
Aaron Hicks won’t be arbitration eligible until 2017 and the earliest he can become an unrestricted free agent is 2020.
What do you think of the Chris Young signing? Can Aaron Hicks at least match the production left behind by Chris Young?
Let us know in the comments below.