Twins Claim John Hicks from Mariners

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins announced that the Twins have claimed 26-year-old catcher John Hicks from the Seattle Mariners. A fourth-round pick by the M's in 2011 out of Virginia, he debuted in 2015 and went 2-32 in 17 games. At AAA Tacoma, he hit .245/.282/.342 (.645) with 15 doubles and 6 homers. 

 

He must be really good defensively.

 

This puts the #MNTwins 40-man roster at 40.

 

I wonder if they'll try to sneak him through waivers now?

[Homer Hanky]

I love this... Thanks Seth for being so quick on the updates... 

 

Do you think they will try to trade Susuki? They could if they wanted too... 

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Hicks had his contract purchased in November of 2014, so he's only used one of his three options. I'd guess they'll hold him to be one of their AAA catchers. 

 

With Park in the fold, my money would be on Kennys Vargas (via trade) or Logan Darnell (outright waivers) being the 39th and 40th guy on the current roster.

[sane09]

 

The Twins announced that the Twins have claimed 26-year-old catcher John Hicks from the Seattle Mariners. A fourth-round pick by the M's in 2011 out of Virginia, he debuted in 2015 and went 2-32 in 17 games. At AAA Tacoma, he hit .245/.282/.342 (.645) with 15 doubles and 6 homers. 

 

He must be really good defensively.

 

This puts the #MNTwins 40-man roster at 40.

 

I wonder if they'll try to sneak him through waivers now?

I doubt it.

Ryan may want to come home next Wednesday night, instead of Thursday, and skip the Rule 5 draft.

[gmarais66]

In five minor-league seasons, he hit .280/.326/.408. He might have some potential.

[gunnarthor]

 

Hicks had his contract purchased in November of 2014, so he's only used one of his three options. I'd guess they'll hold him to be one of their AAA catchers. 

 

With Park in the fold, my money would be on Kennys Vargas (via trade) or Logan Darnell (outright waivers) being the 39th and 40th guy on the current roster.

That sounds about right.  I think Vargas is next out the door.

[James]

 

I love this... Thanks Seth for being so quick on the updates... 

 

Do you think they will try to trade Susuki? They could if they wanted too... 

I don't know that they will try to trade Suzuki.  Suzuki has some value as a backup catcher.  

 

I'm expecting another trade or outrighting one of the more fringe 40-man players.  I think Jeremy has the right idea of what will probably happen.   

[stringer bell]

I think he's the new Herrmann-Fryer-Butera. A backup in the event one of the catchers is injured. Ideally, he would have options so that if Zuke or Murphy was dinged, he could be recalled without disabling the dinged player.

[Homer Hanky]

it sounds like he is perfect for that 3rd catcher spot... traveling between MN and Rochester NY

[Winston Smith]

I love this... Thanks Seth for being so quick on the updates... 

 

Do you think they will try to trade Susuki? They could if they wanted too...

I doubt the Suzuki contract would be very easy to trade.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

In five minor-league seasons, he hit .280/.326/.408. He might have some potential.

Not sure about that.  Through the same age, he's about a dead-ringer for Eric Fryer -- decent numbers in the lower minors, dreadful performance at AAA, and a cup of coffee in MLB.  Hicks did have an AFL appearance last year, but a lot of catchers go to the AFL more out of positional need rather than prospect merit (Dan Rohlfing a few years back).

 

He might eventually get his AAA bearings like Fryer, but without knowledge of his defense, this guy absolutely looks like 3rd catcher material, mostly in AAA with a tenuous grip on a 40-man spot.

[Seth Stohs]

 

That sounds about right.  I think Vargas is next out the door.

 

Yeah, I think Darnell is pretty safe.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I do love how we traded outfielder Aaron Hicks for catcher John Ryan Murphy, then went ahead and claimed catcher John Hicks as some kind of weird mash-up of the two.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I love this... Thanks Seth for being so quick on the updates... 

 

Do you think they will try to trade Susuki? They could if they wanted too... 

 

No, I don't think they would trade Suzuki.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

At AAA Tacoma, he hit .245/.282/.342 (.645) with 15 doubles and 6 homers.

That is particularly brutal for the PCL.  Fangraphs has it pegged as a wRC+ of 68:

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=12547&position=C

 

The only Rochester player with a lower mark last season was Ryan Wheeler:

http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&team=16&players=0

 

Dan Rohlfing never had that low of a wRC+ for Rochester.

 

Butera has had lower marks, but he also has his magic pixie dust.

[gmarais66]

 

That is particularly brutal for the PCL.  Fangraphs has it pegged as a wRC+ of 68:

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=12547&position=C

 

The only Rochester player with a lower mark last season was Ryan Wheeler:

http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&team=16&players=0

 

Dan Rohlfing never had that low of a wRC+ for Rochester.

 

Butera has had lower marks, but he also has his magic pixie dust.

Here is a snapshot of Hicks' career. He sounds like he's light years better than your Rohlfing comparison. He's good defensively and is not a liability at the plate. Threw out 38 percent of runners in 2014. He   can even steal bases, with 46 in his career.

 

http://seatownmariners.com/2015/03/25/2015-seattle-mariners-top-prospects-16-john-hicks/

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Here is a snapshot of Hicks' career. He sounds like he's light years better than your Rohlfing comparison. He's good defensively and is not a liability at the plate. Threw out 38 percent of runners in 2014. He   can even steal bases, with 46 in his career.

 

http://seatownmariners.com/2015/03/25/2015-seattle-mariners-top-prospects-16-john-hicks/

That "snapshot" was from prior to last season.

 

All I said was that his 2015 season was brutal at the plate in AAA (and MLB), which is undoubtedly true.

 

Maybe he can recover from it, but the Mariners just acquired two other catchers and waived Hicks, and at least 15 teams (those with higher waiver priority than the Twins) did not put in a claim for him, despite Hicks having 2 more option years remaining.

[Linus]

Does he hit right or left handed?

[USAFChief]

Does he hit right or left handed?

yes.

 

Scratch that.

 

No.

[shs_59]

I like John Hicks as a replacement to Eric Fryer he's a younger MORE athletic version of Eric Fryer.

 

Well, if all else fails the rest of the off-season

 

The Twins accomplished 2 things

 

1.) More Strikeouts than EVER before  (Park in the fold, and A.B. Walker rising, coming, Sano to Left-field and Oswaldo Arcia still around.)

 

2.)  A Much better catching Corps;  J.R. Murphy > than J. Pinto ,,,,, Hicks > than Fryer and Suzuki the strong #2 option.

 

and 3) Garver / Turner in AAA or nearly ready at least for Rochester. thanks to Garver's solid AFL where Turner stunk it up, at least he has value defensively...

 

Now let Taylor Rogers win the LOOGY spot over Dan Runzler and Roll with some combo of Burdi, Reed, Jones or even Meyer , Tonkin by mid-season and I will be very happy.

 

And optimistic about 2016 and beyond.

[shs_59]

also ,VERY IMPORTANT for those that say Kennys Vargas is #40 on the 40-man roster......I disagree

 

 

We can't possibly LET Kennys get away this early in his career, for the simple fact that  the 2% chance he has to develop into the next Big-Papi David Arias Ortiz

 

Imagine losing 2 David Ortiz' in 1 lifetime to a AL arch Rival Boston Red-Sox   :-0 ;-(

 

That would give us all nightmares for a lifetime!!!!

 

even if its a .02% chance he pans out that well, we have to hang onto him for at least 1 more calender year

[Monkeypaws]

Gotta say this set-up looks better than the catchers who can't hit/catch that have been the backups of late.

 

Marginally better, which IS an improvement.

[Thrylos]

Hicks is a very good pick up.   I would give him a mulligan for 2015 and the PCL, but check his numbers in the Southern League and AFL in 2014 and compare them with Stuart Turner's in the same leagues this season.   Cherry on top?  Check his CS% number (and compare that with Turner's.)   Hicks' ceiling and floor are higher than Turner's who many think is the best C prospect in the Twins' organization...  Writeup in more detail and with the above numbers (and a video) here, if anyone cares.

[Platoon]

yes.

Scratch that.

No.

Could you be more specific?

[Otto von Ballpark]

Could you be more specific?

Yes.

[USAFChief]

Could you be more specific?

No.

 

Think I nailed it.

[ScrapTheNickname]

 

No.

Think I nailed it.

I see you're taking batting practice for next year's game threads.

[h2oface]

 

I do love how we traded outfielder Aaron Hicks for catcher John Ryan Murphy, then went ahead and claimed catcher John Hicks as some kind of weird mash-up of the two.

 

Aaron John Hicks Ryan Murphy.  

I have a hard time with three namers already! Yikes. I wonder if he can play centerfield, too? (Of course he can, if he is on the Twins, eh? He can play anywhere, regardless of whether it messes with his head and has never played there before. He is athletic, right?). 

[Kwak]

IIRC Seattle had a worse situation at catcher than the Twins--so why is anyone happy-dancing at the acquisition of a catcher fired from the Mariners farm system?

[drjim]

 

IIRC Seattle had a worse situation at catcher than the Twins--so why is anyone happy-dancing at the acquisition of a catcher fired from the Mariners farm system?

 

Had is right, before signing Iannetta and trading for Clevenger. Zunino is now their 3rd catcher.

 

And happy dancing seems a slightly strong description for people thinking he's an acceptable 3rd catcher and slight upgrade on Herrmann and Fryer.