Bronx Bomber Ball

CC Sabathia became just the 17 th  pitcher in MLB history to record 3,000 career strikeouts tonight in the second inning of his start against the Diamondbacks.  Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

This morning it was announced that Aaron Hicks and the Yankees have agreed to a seven-year, $70 million extension. The deal was first announced by Jack Curry of the YES Network.  Hicks had previously agreed to a one-year deal of $6 million to avoid arbitration, but this new deal will begin this season, per Bryan Hoch.   Aaron Hicks has agreed to a 7-year, $70M extension with the Yankees. The team will announce the extension later today. — Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) February 25, 2019 Aaron Hicks’ seven-year, $70 million extension will begin this season, per source. — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 25, 2019 Breakdown for Hicks: $2M sign. 2019-$6M. 2020-23: $10.5M. 2024-25: $9.5M. 2026 team option $12.5M or $1M buyout #Yankees — Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 25, 2019 Hicks is coming off arguably his best season where he was able to stay healthy (he has had some issues with this in the past) and in 137 games was able to slash .248/.366/.467 wit...

When Aaron Hicks was acquired by the New York Yankees prior to the 2016 season for backup catcher, John Ryan Murphy, he was a former first-round pick who was considered to be a bust by the Minnesota Twins, and he was not a part of their future plans. Hicks was a career .225 hitter in parts of three seasons with the Twins and never appeared in more than 100 games in a single season. The Yankees expected him to be their fourth outfielder, but were willing to give him at-bats to allow him to try to rediscover his first-round potential. Photo Credit: AP

On the fifth episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Steven Eareckson and Bryan Peng discuss the recent John Ryan Murphy-Aaron Hicks trade, issue with the starting rotation, Brett Gardner trade rumors, address Robinson Cano's possible unhappiness in Seattle., and the second base situation with Dustin Ackley and Rob Refsnyder.  We also get Steven's opinion on signing an outfielder if Gardner were to be traded. Subscribe to the  Bronx Bomber Blog Youtube Channel  for weekly podcasts featuring your BBB writers! Here is  the audio-only (SoundCloud)  podcast in case you wanted to listen while multitasking. Thanks for tuning in! Follow Steven Eareckson @ SteveTheScholar Follow Bryan Peng @ bpeng7 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog @ bronxbomberblog

In what looks to be a busy offseason for the Bombers, GM Brian Cashman has made two trades today. We learned earlier in the day that Cashman shipped infielder/outfielder Jose Pirela to the San Diego Padres in exchange for pitcher Ron Herrera. Later, Cashman traded backup catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Aaron Hicks. Needless to say, neither of these moves makes the Yankees any closer to being World Series contenders, however sometimes shaking things up may not be a bad thing.