Aaron Hicks trade was still the right move for the Twins

The Minnesota Twins have traded away once prized catcher John Ryan Murphy. That got us looking back at the Aaron Hicks trade.

We still aren’t sure exactly what the Minnesota Twins are going to do as we near the trade deadline, but they did make a deal on Thursday. Minnesota sent catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Gabriel Moya. That got us thinking back to the Aaron Hicks trade.

Murphy was expected, at one point, to be the catcher of the future for the Twins. Minnesota received Murphy in the trade with the New York Yankees that sent Aaron Hicks to the Bronx. It looked like a good deal at the time. At least I thought so.

From an article that I published on this website on November 12, 2015 with the title ‘Aaron Hicks trade is a great trade for Twins’:

"The Twins had a crowded outfield going into the offseason, but then Torii Hunter decided to retire and it started to become a little clearer. Monday’s winning bid to negotiate with Byung Ho Park though results in the Twins having another first baseman/designated hitter which will force Miguel Sano to get some playing time in the outfield, so the Twins were back to a crowded outfield once again."

What a crazy time it was going into the 2016 season. Twins fans thought Byung Ho Park was going to be a savior and the public didn’t put up enough of a fight to battle the move of Miguel Sano to the outfield.

In the old post I hoped we’d remember something:

"This is a good deal for the Twins. Does Hicks have the potential to be another All-Star that blooms after he was sent away from Minnesota? He sure does. What we have to remember is that this deal makes a whole lot of sense at the time."

Hicks sure has shown some great potential with the Yankees until injury has slowed down his season. That is disappointing to some extent, but the trade was still the right move to make at the time.

The outfield was loaded with people who needed playing time, especially with the Twins moving Sano to the outfield. Murphy was supposed to take over from Kurt Suzuki fairy quickly behind the plate, but Suzuki thrived and Murphy did the opposite of that.

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When the Twins traded for Murphy, he was hitting .311 in 115 games over the course of three seasons. The potential was there.

Murphy proceeded to only appear in 26 games at the major league level with Minnesota while only getting 12 hits in 82 at-bats. Murphy hit .146 in his short major league career with the Twins.

It’s quite the shock that the Twins got a breathing body in return for Murphy, nonetheless a pitcher that is having a nice year at AA with a 0.82 ERA in 43.2 innings while going 12 for 12 in save opportunities. Moya definitely has more value right now than Murphy. Which can also be used as a very thinly veiled excuse for accepting the Hicks trade.

It may be hard to swallow, but the Hicks trade was still worth the risk for the Twins.

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