Mike Elias: Confident Aaron Hicks Performs Better With Orioles
Will Aaron Hicks actually help the Orioles? Baltimore’s President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias certainly believes so. Hicks wore out his welcome in New York, but Elias remains confident that the veteran outfielder will perform better in Baltimore.
“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective that, as I’ve said before, it’s very different from looking at the back of a baseball card,” Elias said, the Baltimore Sun reported. “We hope that we get a bounce back from anyone we bring in here.”
“You may not get a great outcome on everything, but we see stuff with Aaron Hicks that we like and it feels like a good fit for us,” Elias said, according to the Sun. “I hope this is a shot in the arm for him, and I hope that he helps us out and helps us win some games.”
There isn’t much risk here for the Orioles. Half the reason why Hicks was signed is because of the injury to Cedric Mullins. If Mullins doesn’t go down, who knows if Baltimore even considers Hicks. Also, it’s going to be hard for Hicks to perform worse than he did with the Yankees. The switch hitter is currently sporting a batting line of .188/.263/.261. That’s what we call hashtag bad.
Hicks, 33, won the Gold Glove in 2018 and can still help out defensively even if the bat isn’t there. The former Minnesota Twins first round in 2008 was cut by the Yankees despite still being under contract through 2025. It’s going to be a fascinating story to follow with both teams being in a competitive AL East.
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