The Yankees are still hunting for catching help, and the market may be pointing them toward an unconventional answer: Liam Hicks.
New York has made it clear it wants an upgrade behind the plate, even if the ideal fit - a right-handed option like Ryan Jeffers - never materializes. At this point, the thinking goes, the Yankees can’t afford to be picky. If the best catcher available is a left-handed hitter, they may have to take the swing anyway.
That’s where Hicks enters the picture. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported on X that the Miami Marlins could be willing to move him if the price is right, and he noted that Miami has a crowded situation at catcher.
"The catching market has six suitors (NYY, BOS, TB, CHW, TEX, LAD), but the options aren't overwhelming," Feinsand writes on X. "One name to watch: Liam Hicks of the Marlins. Sources say Miami is open to trading Hicks, who has played more at 1B/DH than C thanks to the presence of Joe Mack."
For the Yankees, Hicks would not just be a short-term patch. He would give them a catcher under control through 2031 and not arbitration-eligible until 2028, which makes him the kind of piece a team can build around. New York probably isn’t eager to completely move on from Austin Wells, but adding Hicks could give the club more flexibility to deal Wells and address another need elsewhere.
If the Yankees and Marlins did line up on a deal, Ben Hess and Henry Lalane are two names that could be in play. Hess is the more advanced arm, while Lalane is the longer-term upside bet.
Hess has been back from injury and has posted a 3.94 ERA, but he has still missed plenty of bats with 55 strikeouts in 45.2 IP. Last season, he piled up 139 whiffs in 103.1 innings.
Lalane brings his own swing-and-miss appeal. He has 93 strikeouts in 71.2 IP and, given more time, could wind up with an even higher ceiling than Hess. The Marlins may not be headed for a full teardown, as Craig Mish has reported, but the catching depth chart is crowded enough that Hicks stands out as the most obvious candidate to move.
At the plate, Hicks has been productive in his second full season in the majors, hitting .282/.359/.439 with a 119 wRC+. He doesn’t light up the radar gun - his average exit velocity ranks in the 4th percentile and his hard-hit rate sits in the 11th percentile - but he keeps the line moving and makes life annoying for pitchers.
That’s part of the appeal. Hicks has a 9.9% strikeout rate and is extremely difficult to miss against. He has 95 hits and only 38 swings and misses this season, a rare kind of contact profile in today’s game.
There’s also a reason to think Yankee Stadium could play nicely with his swing. Hicks has a 20.5% pull air rate, and expected home runs by park suggest his 14-homer total would jump to 16 in the Bronx.
He may not be the right-handed bat the Yankees originally had in mind, but the bigger issue is getting competent production behind the plate. Hicks would give them that, and he would be a major step up from Wells. At this point, that may be the only thing that really matters.
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