Yankees: How Brian Cashman’s brilliance framed the franchise’s resurgence
By Philip Bork
In November of 2015, the Yankees made a surprising trade: dealing backup catcher, John Ryan Murphy, to the Twins for switch-hitting outfielder Aaron Hicks. As a 24-year old, Murphy hit .277 with 14 RBI’s in 67 games, while displaying solid defense behind the plate. At the time of the trade, Hicks was a project.
A raw athletic specimen, Hicks had plus defense in center field with solid numbers against left-handed pitching. Yankee-land was puzzled and relatively skeptical of the deal. Why would the Yankees trade a promising catcher for an outfielder who had yet to find success at the big-league level? After a rough 2016 season, Hicks has channeled his raw potential into consistency and success, becoming a key cog in the Yankee lineup.
In 2018, Hicks slashed .264/.366/.467 with 27 HR’s and 79 RBI’s in 137 games with as the primary leadoff hitter. According to the sabermetric statistic, Wins Above Replacement, or WAR, Hicks was the third best centerfielder in Major League Baseball in 2018, behind only Mike Trout and Lorenzo Cain. Hick’s Gold Glove-caliber defense in centerfield—a premium position—coupled with versatility as a switch hitter, an offensive uptick in average, power and walk-rate led to the Yankees signing Hicks to a seven-year, $70 million contract extension in February of 2019.
Meanwhile, Murphy struggled in 2016 and was quickly demoted to Triple-A. In the three full seasons since the trade, Murphy played a total of 118 games with not much offensive production. Hicks’ immense improvment over the last two years compared to Murphy’s complete ineffectiveness makes this deal one of Cashman’s best ever.