ESPN Angels, OF Aaron Hicks agree to deal; Aline With The..
The Los Angeles Angels agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran outfielder Aaron Hicks on Monday, adding him to an outfield mix that includes Mike Trout, Taylor Ward, Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell.
Hicks is still under the seven-year, $70 million contract he originally signed with the New York Yankees, which extends through the 2025 season. The deal pays Hicks $9.5 million in 2024 and $9.5 million in 2025 and includes a $1 million buyout for a club option in 2026. The Yankees are still responsible for all of it minus the major league minimum of $740,000 the Angels will pay him in 2024.
Hicks, 34, was released by the Yankees after slashing just .188/.263/.261 through the first two months of the 2023 season but improved dramatically upon joining the division-rival Baltimore Orioles, his slash line jumping to .275/.381/.425 over the remaining 65 games. Hicks’ best stretch came from 2017 to 2020, during which he carried an .819 OPS while accumulating 60 home runs and 8.7 FanGraphs wins above replacement in 338 games.
Hicks is a switch-hitter who has played mostly center field, but he also has plenty of experience at both outfield corners. His addition could free up a path for the Angels to use one of their other outfielders to acquire a starting pitcher or an impact bat via trade, but he also serves as critical depth given the questions surrounding Adell’s development.
Hicks’ presence isn’t expected to prompt Trout to move off center field.
“Mike’s our center fielder,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said on a video conference with local reporters. “We’ve learned this over the last couple of years, at least since I’ve been here — you need players that can play multiple positions. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. He’s somebody that’s played center; he played center last year for Baltimore in certain instances, obviously a very good team that made the playoffs. He can play right, he can play left, he can really throw, so he’s somebody that can help us in a lot of different ways.”
The father of Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was arrested Saturday night in Tyler, Texas, on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to online jail records.
Patrick Mahomes Sr., 54, is facing a charge of Driving While Intoxicated 3rd Or More with his bond being set at $10,000. He was released from the Smith County Jail on Sunday afternoon.
The charge is a third-degree felony and carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if he is convicted, according to state law.
His arrest comes just a week before his son is set to play against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
Mahomes Sr. pleaded guilty to a previous DWI arrest in Texas in 2018 and was sentenced to 40 days in jail, which he served on weekends.
A former major league pitcher, he played for six teams over 11 seasons from 1992 to 2003.
The right-hander was 42-39 with a 5.47 ERA in 308 career games (63 starts) for the Twins, Red Sox, Mets, Rangers, Cubs and Pirates. He was part of the 1999 NL playoffs with the Mets.
The Chicago White Sox swung a pair of trades with contending teams Saturday, sending right-handed reliever Gregory Santos to the Seattle Mariners, and right-handed prospect Cristian Mena to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
From Seattle, the White Sox received a package that includes a pair of players on the Mariners’ 40-man roster — hard-throwing right-hander Prelander Berroa and outfielder Zach DeLoach — as well as the 69th pick in the 2024 draft. In the deal with the Diamondbacks, which was announced on social media by the White Sox, outfielder Dominic Fletcher goes to Chicago from Arizona and should be in the mix for playing time this year.
Santos, 24, was the most well-regarded player moved and joins a Mariners bullpen that already boasts Andres Muñoz and Matt Brash, two of the nastiest relievers in the big leagues. With a fastball that sits at 99 mph and a 92-mph slider, Santos thrived in his first full season with the White Sox, posting a 3.39 ERA and a 2.65 Fielding Independent Pitching number on account of allowing just two home runs with a nearly 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 66.1 innings.
With five years of team control on Santos, the Mariners were willing to give up Berroa, 23, whose stuff is similar to Santos’, with a fastball that hits triple digits and a hard-breaking slider. A starter for most of his minor league career, Berroa spent last season mainly as a reliever and debuted with Seattle toward the end of the 2023 season after posting a 2.89 ERA and striking out 101 in 65.1 innings at Triple A.
