February coming with the trade deadline is knocking on the door, and the Yankees are still processing their roster selection. At present, even after throwing insane offers to different players, the New York baseball team is lacking left outfielders. There is probably no strong player to maintain the left side of fielding in the Yankees rotations. Now, the only benefit that is easy to catch is Rafael Ortega. Meanwhile, the Yankees tried their best to trade Aaron Hicks and Josh Donaldson. But as no better replacement is available in their hands, they are most likely getting featured with the Yankees on the opening day.
But not just the trading partner is a problem why Hicks and Donaldson will get to start the season with Aaron Judge. There is a big disadvantage that comes with the trade of Hick and Josh. Doing so will lead the Yankees to a huge financial sacrifice. And after throwing the expensive contracts to the captain, Rizzo, and Rodon, the Yankees are probably not ready for the sacrifice.
Yankees Will Have To Eat 50% Of Hicks And Donaldson’s Contract In Order To Make A Trade
Meanwhile, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the Bronx Bombers are still letting Josh Donaldson, who owes $29 million. And Aaron Hicks, who owes $30.5 million, is available for the trade. Bob reported, “Yankees are still very much available as they are willing to eat part of the contracts [of Hicks and Donaldson]. Now the one question coming to mind is, how much? By how much Yankees are ready to eat the contracts of Hicks and Donaldson.
The $29 million that the Bronx team owes to Donalson, is tucked in the payroll for 2023. However, Aaron Hicks, his contract still has three years left with an amount of $30.5 million. Therefore, the Yankees will have to consume at least 50% (which is the baseline) of their contracts before taking a big step toward them. For the 2023 season, the Yankees will have to eat up $10 million for Josh and $5 million for Hicks. But ultimately, these dollars will be worth wasting because of the benefits it brings.
If Yankees manager Brian Cashman gets convinced with the fact that keeping Aaron Hicks and Josh Donaldson is worse than eating up 50% of their contract money, then probably The New York Baseball Team will get off of them. But Cashman is already dealing with 43 million below the Steve Cohen Tax. And also, $18 million fitting Jurickson Profar is there to haunt Brian Cashman. This is because then he will be left with $10 million more for making the deadline trade.
