Former Yankees Boo-Birds Target Gets DFA'd for 2nd Time In a Year

Less than 48 hours after taking the mound for his first pitching appearance in the big leagues, former Yankee Stadium boo-birds target Aaron Hicks has been DFA'd for the second time in two years, this time by the Los Angeles Angels.

The @Angels designated OF Aaron Hicks for assignment😳#MLB pic.twitter.com/Vkh1bHlQN0
— Sportskeeda Baseball (@sportskeeda_mlb) April 29, 2024

Yankees fans have seen this before from Hicks: With the Angels this year, he was hitting just .140 with a laughable OPS+ of 20. With a .193 slugging percentage and just one homer in 18 games, the Halos had seen enough of the 34-year-old veteran.

In a blowout 16-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, the Angels decided to mop up in the 9th with Hicks on the mound (he surrendered two runs in his first-ever appearance in the majors or minors), probably already knowing that he wasn't much longer for the club.

Hicks spent eight years in New York, where he became the main target of the angered Bronx denizens, with his inability to repeat a promising 2018 campaign in which he hit 27 homers and posted an .833 OPS. From there, his performance fell off more and more each season, until he was hitting .188 after 28 games last year, finally leading the Yankees to designate him for assignment.

The Baltimore Orioles then took a chance on Hicks, and he seemed to recapture some of his mojo, actually batting .275 for them with an .806 OPS in 200 at-bats. But he for some reason decided to move on from Baltimore after the season, and signed with the Angels for the league minimum.

The Yankees, meanwhile, are still responsible for paying him $8.76 million this year, and $9.5 million in 2025.