ESPN: The Yankees are regreting for still paying outfielder they cut two years ago almost $10 million.

The New York Yankees made a move they would eventually come to regret before the 2019 season. They gave outfielder Aaron Hicks a seven-year, $70 million contract extension, which at the time made perfect sense given that he had just completed with a combined 6.6 fWAR and wRC+ of 128 and 129 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

But following Tommy John surgery in 2019 and a season-ending treatment in 2021 due to a damaged wrist tendon, things took a turn for the worst. After that, he was never the same, and in May 2023, the Yankees discharged him after designating him for assignment.

Aaron Hicks is still being paid by the Yankees.

Since then, they have covered the majority of his income, and in 2025—the year when his contract with the Yankees is expected to expire—they will also provide him a whopping sum of money.

Naturally, Hicks’ contract extension hasn’t ended yet, so he will still be owed $9.26 million for the upcoming campaign. Hicks won’t be lingering in Year 12 of the Generational One’s next deal, so it won’t necessarily make a difference in any Soto negotiations. However, it truly hurts to see this obstruction in the name of financial efficiency,” commented Yanks Go Yard’s Adam Weinrib.

The Hicks extension is causing the Yankees to suffer.
As everyone knows, the Yankees are far too wealthy to be concerned about $9.26 million in the long run. The issue is that their already difficult competitive balance tax (CBT) predicament is made worse by Hicks’ dead money and other unsightly contracts.

It should serve as a warning against offering a 29-year-old player a seven-year deal, even though it would have made sense at the time.

After being signed as a cheap reclamation project right after the Yankees released him in 2023, he was fairly solid for the Baltimore Orioles. However, he was a complete bust with the Los Angeles Angels this past season (20 wRC+ in 18 games).

These incidents occur more frequently than you may imagine and are a part of baseball. However, as Yankees supporters will tell you, it hurts to see.