The messy divorce between Aaron Hicks and the Yankees may have some added context.
According to former MLB catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the Yankees may have had a problem with Hicks competing in the offseason Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where he placed eighth on the celebrity leaderboard after his performance last weekend.
“I don’t know if this is true or not, but Aaron Hicks used to play in this event a few years ago, and the Yankees told him he had to stop because they thought that’s why he was getting injured,” Pierzynski said on the “Foul Territory” show Thursday. “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but there was a rumor about that they told him he had to stop playing golf.”
Hicks, a passionate golfer who once told The Post he “wanted to be Tiger” and is on the record saying he wants to play on the PGA Tour one day, was designated for assignment by the Yankees last May after an elongated stretch of disappointing play.
The switch-hitting outfielder, currently a free agent, was acquired by the Yankees in 2015 via trade and signed a seven-year, $70 million extension before the 2019 season.
His best campaign in The Bronx came in 2018 when he hit 27 homers and got on base at a .366 clip.
But Hicks flatlined in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, hitting a combined .211 with just 12 homers as the Yankees eventually cut bait early in 2023.
He also suffered from two major injuries in New York, the first a right elbow injury in 2019 that resulted in Tommy John surgery and the second a left wrist procedure in 2021.
Four days after his Yankees tenure ended, Hicks signed with the Orioles, where he was a surprise success, hitting for a .806 OPS in 236 plate appearances while filling in for an injured Cedric Mullins in center field.
“I wasn’t shocked, because I felt like I already saw the way they were going,’’ Hicks told The Post about his Yankees release last July. “I assumed something was coming because everyone that came up [from the minors] seemed to pass me over. I would still be in the same role-playing against some lefties. … I assumed that was gonna continue and I’d never really get a consistent opportunity to play and take over the job.”
