Yankees played themselves into another Aaron Hicks situation with Orioles

Few players, if any, were more frustrating for New York Yankees fans to watch than Aaron Hicks in the 2023 season. He slashed .188/.263/.261 in 28 games for New York last season and struggled in the field as well, all while making a decent amount of money. Hicks' struggles caused Yankees fans to boo him to the point where Brian Cashman had no choice but to DFA the outfielder.

With Cedric Mullins landing on the IL, the Orioles wound up signing Hicks days after the Yankees released him. That move could not have panned out much better for Baltimore, as Hicks slashed .275/.381/.425 in 65 games with the O's. He even wound up starting two of the Orioles' three postseason games and had a five-RBI performance in Game 2 of the series.

Seeing Hicks suddenly flip the switch immediately after the Yankees released him was not something that their fan base was thrilled about, to say the least. The Yankees might have opened up that same possibility of a player coming back to haunt them in an Orioles uniform with the recently released J.D. Davis signing a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, per Jon Heyman of the NY Post.

Yankees might have played themselves into another Aaron Hicks situation with Orioles

Like Hicks, J.D. Davis was doing just about nothing in a Yankees uniform. He only played in seven games after signing with New York in late June and looked overmatched, recording two hits in 19 at-bats with nine strikeouts. The issue isn't the Yankees releasing him. It's that Davis is now an Oriole, the team that they're competing with at the top of the AL East.

What Davis' role will be on the Orioles remains to be seen. Perhaps he'll get some starts at third base with Coby Mayo getting off to a slow start to his MLB career. Perhaps he'll platoon with one of the several left-handed bats in Baltimore's lineup. He might even have signed a minor league deal. All we know is Davis could easily be a factor in the Orioles' MLB team, and if that's the case, it could end up in disaster.

As Hicks proved, a player doesn't necessarily have to be red-hot to perform in an Orioles uniform. Perhaps the change of scenery was all Hicks needed, and could be beneficial for Davis too.

On the surface, Davis signing with the Orioles is a nothingburger. In reality, though, when considering what Hicks did last season after getting out of the Bronx, Yankees fans have a right to be somewhat nervous about this move.