A week after extending ace Luis Severino, the New York Yankees have also extended CF Aaron Hicks. All signs are pointing to Dellin Betances being next.
On Monday, it was reported that the New York Yankees and Aaron Hicks have come to an agreement on an extension deal worth $70M over 7-years. The deal comes a little over a week after the Yankees and Luis Severino avoided arbitration by also signing an extension deal.
Hicks has presented as an injury prone player for his career, having played only two full seasons since being called up to the big leagues back in 2013. However, in 2018, he proved that when healthy, he is one of the better center fielders in the game.
Last season, Hicks placed 3rd (4.9) among CF, behind Mike Trout (9.8) and Lorenzo Cain (5.7), in fWAR. Over the last two seasons, Hicks has also improved his ability to create runs, especially since developing a power swing and improving his patience at the plate. In wRC+, Hicks (127) placed only behind Trout (191) in 2018.
For the Yankees, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out, they’re getting Hicks at a bargain given the prior history of CF contracts (see Tweet below).
1/As free agent would injury-prone/late-blossoming Hicks have been treated like injury-prone Pollock (4-$55M, $13.75M AAV) or late-blossoming Cain (5-$80M, $16M AAV). Cain was fr agt after age-31 season, Pollock age-30. Hicks would have been after 29.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 25, 2019
Upon agreeing to this extension, the Yanks can now focus their attention on extending RP Dellin Betances, 31, before he becomes a free agent next season.
Among ALL relievers all-time (min. 350 IP), the New York City born and raised Betances ranks 3rd in K/9 (14.65). For his career, despite being wild at times, Betances has a 2.37 ERA and 2.31 FIP.
Given the current climate on RP, if the Yankees can lock up Betances for 3-4 years at somewhere between $9M-$11M AAV, they’d be getting him for a bargain. Similar pitchers in Andrew Miller and David Robertson both signed 2-year deals this offseason and are getting close to $12M AAV each.
In extending their young players before hitting free agency, the Yankees are both exuding confidence in their team and saving money down the line in order to make improvements.
More importantly, their players are happy, and so are the New York Yankees. It’s a win-win all the way around.