Executives from all 30 MLB teams have gathered for the annual General Manager Meetings in Las Vegas this week. With this year's GM Meetings underway, let's reminisce about a major trade the Minnesota Twins made during the 2015 meetings.
On Nov. 11, 2015, the Twins traded outfielder Aaron Hicks to the New York Yankees for catcher John Ryan Murphy. Hicks, then 26, was once a top-100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline but failed to live up to expectations in parts of three seasons with Minnesota, posting 2.5 fWAR and a .225/.306/.349 slash line over 247 games. He had a decent 2015 season, posting 2.0 fWAR, but his offense was still below average, with a 96 wRC+.
Looking at the results of the Twins-Yankees Aaron Hicks trade
Hicks' struggles continued through his first season with the Yankees. In 2016, Hicks posted -0.5 fWAR and a 64 wRC+ over 123 games. Then, Hicks bounced back with outstanding 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2017, Hicks recorded 2.6 fWAR and a .266/.372/.475 (128 wRC+) slash line with 15 home runs and 52 RBI in 88 games. The next season, he posted 4.1 fWAR and a .248/.366/.467 (129 wRC+) slash line with 27 home runs and 79 RBI over 137 games.
Major injuries kept Hicks to just 59 games in 2019. After a decent 2020 season, the outfielder struggled over the following four seasons. In 2023, the Yankees finally cut Hicks. The Baltimore Orioles picked him up, and he actually posted decent numbers for the club, posting an .806 OPS over 65 games. He appeared in 18 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024 and then officially retired from Major League Baseball.
While the Yankees got little out of Hicks beyond a couple of good seasons, the Twins got even less value from Murphy. The catcher appeared in just 26 games with the Twins in 2016. In July 2017, the Twins traded Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Gabriel Moya, who made seven appearances for the Twins in 2017 and 35 in 2018, recording a 4.64 ERA. Moya left the Twins organization following the 2019 season.
While Hicks never lived up to his top-prospect status, partly due to injuries, he still had a solid career. Over his 12 big-league seasons, Hicks recorded 11.5 fWAR with 109 home runs, 392 RBI and 71 stolen bases in 981 games. Meanwhile, Murphy posted 1.9 fWAR with 18 home runs and 61 RBI in 284 big-league games with the Yankees, Twins, Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates. Murphy retired after the 2020 season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google