Thoughts after Aaron Hicks goes down with a wrist injury

Right as Hicks was starting to hit too. (AP photo)

The injuries are starting to pile up. Earlier today Aaron Boone announced Aaron Hicks has a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, and may require surgery. They’re going to see how he responds to treatment before sending him under the knife. Hicks was held out of Thursday’s lineup and an MRI revealed the diagnosis. I’m going to try to keep my thoughts brief on this only because it’s a Friday night, so let’s get to it.

1. Hicks may not miss much time. The Yankees have conditioned us to expect the worst with injuries and I expect the worst here, but there is a chance Hicks won’t miss much time. The fact he has not yet been placed on the injured list tells us he could return soon. Hicks is on medication, and if it takes, he’ll be back in the lineup. Fingers crossed.

Mark Teixeira showed us the two sides of tendon sheath injuries. He told Sweeny Murti he had a torn tendon sheath early in 2009, received a cortisone shot, and had no issues the rest of the season (Teixeira played 156 games that year and was MVP runner-up). In 2013, Teixeira had another torn tendon sheath, and eventually needed season-ending surgery.

"These things are tricky," Teixeira told Murti. "He could be fine in a few weeks or out for the season."

We should know pretty soon whether Hicks is responding well to treatment. The Yankees aren’t going to play shorthanded forever, so my guess is he either returns or is placed on the injured list before the end of the weekend. They’re not going to drag this out long. There’s a chance Hicks returns soon and avoids surgery. A small one, but a chance.

2. Stanton in the outfield. Oh by the way, Giancarlo Stanton was scratched from Friday night’s lineup with a tight quad. With Hicks (wrist), Stanton (quad), and Gio Urshela (knee) all banged up, tonight’s bench is Mike Ford. Yeesh.

Anyway, the Hicks injury means Stanton is one step closer to playing the outfield simply because there is one fewer starting outfielder on the roster. Stanton in the outfield doesn’t really help much though, right? The Yankees need a center fielder and that’s not Stanton. It would be good to have another outfield-capable body, sure, but Stanton’s not playing center.

"He's doing his work out there, he's making sure he's doing plenty of running to condition himself to that possibility," Boone Max Goodman before Stanton was scratched. "It is something I'm considering."

The Yankees will roll with Brett Gardner in center field for the time being because he’s their best option. Tyler Wade can play center in an emergency and that’s it. Aaron Judge has been playing through lower body soreness, so they’re not putting him in center, and the Yankees are more likely to livestream Clint Frazier’s next haircut than put him center. Gardner it is.

3. Possible trade targets. The obligatory Mike Tauchman joke goes here. The thing is, Tauchman is not an everyday player (he’s hitting .229/.302/.354 as an everyday player with the Giants) and he would not have replaced Hicks. He would’ve given the Yankees another player capable of playing center field, but he’s not an everyday player. Look forward, not back, etc. etc.

The best realistic trade candidate is Starling Marte, clearly. The Marlins are a game out of last place and he’s an impending free agent. He’s also on the injured list with a broken rib, so there’s no trading for him right now, but I don’t think Miami is ready to act anyway. Marte is quite good though, and he’s a legitimate center fielder. He’s an obvious fit.

Other potential center field trade candidates include, uh, JaCoby Jones? Jake Marisnick? The Twins are going down in flames, might as well ask about Byron Buxton (too bad he’s currently on the injured list). Ask the Diamondbacks about Ketel Marte too. Jon Jay and Juan Lagares aren’t really center fielders anymore, but I’m guessing the Angels would move them.

If the Yankees do turn to the trade market to replace Hicks (they’d have to if he needs surgery), my guess is they'd look for the next Tauchman rather than a big name like the Martes. They have $5M or so to spend under the $210M luxury tax threshold, limiting their maneuverability, plus there don’t figure to be many top center fielders available. Good center fielders are rare!

Digging through depth charts, journeymen like Delino DeShields Jr. and Abe Almonte are toiling away in Triple-A. Luis Barrera (Athletics) and Edward Olivares (Royals) could be Tauchman 2.0 candidates. I literally did not know Tauchman existed when the Yankees acquired him. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Yankees replace Hicks with someone else I don’t know exists.

4. No lefty bats. Hicks has started the season slowly against righties -- he has a 124 wRC+ against lefties and a 65 wRC+ against righties, but that is not at all consistent with his career, he’s historically been much better against righties -- and he is the Yankees’ most potent lefty bat, so that’s a problem. Their top lefty bat now is Gardner or Rougned Odor.

The Yankees have (and have had for a while now) a lineup imbalance, and losing Hicks for some length of time will only make the lineup more imbalanced. Less is more with Gardner at this point in his career and Odor doesn’t belong on a contender’s roster. Counting on them as your top lefty threats is inviting a parade of righty relievers late in games. Not great.

5. Florial to Triple-A. Estevan Florial was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A this afternoon and that was the first indication something was wrong with Hicks. He was promoted in the middle of a series (that’s unusual) and he’s barely played in Double-A (8-for-35 with four homers in nine games). It would’ve been a real quick promotion for performance reasons.

Florial is one of two 40-man roster position players in the minors (Single-A shortstop Oswald Peraza is the other) and calling him up to replace Hicks is certainly possible, but man, that would be aggressive. Jumping a guy with pitch recognition issues essentially from High-A to the big leagues is asking for trouble. Hicks’ injury shouldn’t change Florial’s development path.

I think Florial’s promotion was partly about challenging him with Triple-A pitching and partly about getting him under Tier 1 protocols. Triple-A is using the same health and safety protocols as MLB this year. If the Yankees called Florial up from Double-A, he’d have to go through intake testing. If they call him up from Triple-A, he can join the team right away.

Is Florial more Triple-A ready today than he was 10 days ago when the Double-A season again? No, he is not. 10 days is nothing. I don’t like the Yankees altering Florial’s development in response to an MLB injury. The kid has missed a lot of at-bats the last few years (injuries, the pandemic, etc.) and he needs to catch up, not be rushed up the ladder.

The Yankees have had an open 40-man spot since Jay Bruce retired and surgery would make Hicks a 60-day injured list candidate. Calling up Greg Allen or Andrew Velazquez to be the backup center fielder in the short-term is the way to go, I think. Florial could do it if necessary, but it’s not necessary yet. This is why you bring in guys like Allen and Velazquez, to avoid rushing your prospects.

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