New York Yankees sign OF Aaron Hicks to $70M extension

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The New York Yankees and outfielder Aaron Hicks have agreed to a seven-year contract extension.

New York announced the pact on Monday. Hicks' deal runs through the 2025 season and includes an option for the 2026 season. It replaces the one-year contract he signed on Jan. 11.

Sources told MLB.com that the deal is worth $70 million. Hicks' one-year contract was worth $6 million. The one-year option for 2026 is for $12.5 million. The pact includes a $1 million buyout and a $2 million signing bonus. Hicks will make $10.5 million annually from 2020 to 2023.

Hicks, 29, hit .248 with a career-high 27 home runs and 79 RBIs in 137 games last season for the Yankees. The No. 14 overall pick in the 2008 MLB June Amateur Draft played his first three seasons for the Minnesota Twins before being traded to the Yankees in 2015.

Hicks is playing center field and batting No. 4 for the Yankees in a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 p.m. on Monday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.