Article: Hicks Positioned to Take the Leap

[Boom Boom]

Mastroianni is a nice bench player but I believe he'll be overexposed if pressed into full-time duty.

 

Benson, despite the fact that he had a cup of coffee in 2011, should be behind Hicks on the depth chart.

 

IMO, either the Twins should just roll out with Hicks, or find a platoon partner for Mastroianni.

[Mike Sixel]

Why would they need another outfielder if they are rebuilding?

[mnfanforlife]

I think Ryan knows he has a bunch of guys that can be good top-of-the-order hitters in Nate Roberts, Hicks, Buxton, Kepler etc. and he got some great returns for Span and Revere. All of the OF's left in MIN's organization should be capable to fill the roles left open by Revere and Span, some sooner than others.

[mnfanforlife]

Roberts, Hicks, Arcia, Buxton, Kepler, Bigley, Walker. Two of these guys might play in Minnesota next year. There is still a ton of OF depth in this organization.

[LaBombo]

If the org truly believes it will be more beneficial for Hicks' development to get a few months in Triple-A before tasting the majors, so be it, but I'd hope that's the only factor in their evaluation. I don't believe the contract stuff should have much bearing.

 

Agree with everything but this last part. Even if the Twins add a respectable starter from the dwindling pool of free agents, they're just not very likely to contend in 2013. Two months of a kid who hasn't played above AA isn't worth giving up a year of team control of a player in his prime on a potential contender.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Here is what you willl hear about Hicks when he is sent down- He needs triple A AB's - we have three young centerfielders and we need Hicks to play everday - He needs to work on his __________ so we sent him to triple A. He will be the centerfielder an hour after the full year of service date passes. That is usually around June 1st. No way out of spring training.

 

couldnt have said it better myself.

[DAM DC Twins Fans]

Here is what you willl hear about Hicks when he is sent down- He needs triple A AB's - we have three young centerfielders and we need Hicks to play everday - He needs to work on his __________ so we sent him to triple A. He will be the centerfielder an hour after the full year of service date passes. That is usually around June 1st. No way out of spring training.

 

Amen--Couldnt have said it better.

[JeffB]

It just seems so out of character for Gardy/Ryan to hand a starting position, and leadoff spot in the lineup, to a young top prospect. Do we have a recent example? It seems like all young Twins prospects languish on the many Rochester-Minneapolis round trips before becoming a regular in the lineup.

[LaBombo]

If he performs up to expectations then they'll look to extend him in a couple of years anyway. If he can play now, he should play.

 

Let's set aside the fact that Hicks had a good, but not great, year at New Britain, and is hardly a solid bet to be a plus player on Opening Day. If you bring him up you're still just trading two months of Aaron Hicks the prospect for a year of Aaron Hicks the seasoned major leaguer in his prime, and hopefully playing for a contender instead of a rebuilder.

 

If this were the Yankees, then yes, you could just buy that year back with an extension without another thought. But it's the Twins, and if you extend him you'll be paying a premium to do so and taking money from a finite pool. The loss of that money could very likely result in the loss of a veteran or a budget issue that prevents a free agent signing.

[Nick Nelson]

I'm surprised how many fans have inherited this mindset that keeping a non-elite prospect in the minors for a couple months to delay his free agency is a huge deal. Are we in Tampa Bay? Gotta believe a lot of people singing that tune will feel differently if we're in May and Hicks is doing his usual high-OBP thing at Rochester while Mastroianni struggles and the Twins lack a competent leadoff option.

 

Even in a rebuilding year, you still try to win games. Hicks might be a little raw yet, but the way he flourished through the extremely difficult A-to-AA transition suggests to me that he's up for the challenge. If he struggles you can always send him down and preserve the arb clock.

 

Let's set aside the fact that Hicks had a good, but not great, year at New Britain

He had a top-5 OPS in the Eastern League as one of the younger players, and he played excellent defense in center field. I think your standard for greatness must be pretty high.

 

It just seems so out of character for Gardy/Ryan to hand a starting position, and leadoff spot in the lineup, to a young top prospect. Do we have a recent example?

Well, Gomez. Revere. Going back further, Hunter was called up at a young age with little seasoning in the high minors. You can call the Twins conserative with promotions, but when it comes to toolsy outfielders that has hardly been the case.

[LaBombo]

But it's also about putting an appealing product on the field. Even if the Twins aren't going all-out to win in 2013, they need to give the fans something to come out to the ballpark for. Watching Hicks develop on the big-league stage would be fun perk and would help mitigate the losses of a couple fan favorites. Of course, this ranks behind Hicks' development in importance, so if they truly believe he'll be overwhelmed or set back by the MLB challenge, go ahead and start him in Triple-A.

 

While plenty of Twins Daily people might be excited to see Hicks on Opening Day, he's hardly the widely known phenom, either in terms of talent or, more importantly in this case, reputation, that Joe Mauer was when he arrived in the majors. Unless Hicks tears it up from the start, his presence may backfire with respect to drawing casual fans.

 

Many of them have grown increasingly cynical about the Twins not fielding a competitive team since the first year in Target Field. Some kid they don't know from the minors batting .220 on May 1 may be seen incorrectly as another sign of' penny pinching by the Pohlads. And even if Hicks hits about what you might expect, but the team struggles (shocka!), the rubes will at least partly blame the kid batting only .250, never mind the walks.

[Mike Sixel]

So don't even try to be good by putting the best players out there because they cannot win it all? They built the stadium to retain their current players. If hicks is the beat option, he should he out there.

[Twins Fan From Afar]

If he performs up to expectations then they'll look to extend him in a couple of years anyway. If he can play now, he should play.

 

Let's set aside the fact that Hicks had a good, but not great, year at New Britain, and is hardly a solid bet to be a plus player on Opening Day. If you bring him up you're still just trading two months of Aaron Hicks the prospect for a year of Aaron Hicks the seasoned major leaguer in his prime, and hopefully playing for a contender instead of a rebuilder.

 

Hicks, by almost all objective standards for measuring the ability to play the game of baseball, did indeed have a great year in 2012.

.286/.384/.460; 21 2B; 11 3B; 13 HR; 61 RBIs (he served as leadoff hitter the last half of the season); 79 BB; 116 K; 32 SB; 11 CS. He accumulated 472 at-bats and scored an even 100 runs.

 

How about his stats when compared to the Eastern League: His .286 average is good for 15th in the league. The 11 triples are tied for first in the league, and the 100 runs are solidly in first place in the entire league. Hicks tied for first in walks, was third in stolen bases, and eighth in on-base percentage.

 

His defense was already major league ready going into 2012.

 

I wrote a little more about his 2012 season here, if anyone cares to read. In any event, I'd call it a great year. Very, very solid numbers across the board.

[Alex]

I think he'll get a chance right away. I think you're right about it being his job to lose. Benson or Mastro could beat him out. But I expect him to win the job out of Spring Training. He won't make the team if he doesn't win the starting job. But I expect him to win the starting job.

 

Here is a complete list of top position player prospects they have promoted directly from AA:

 

Mauer

Revere

Benson

Parmelee

Dozier

 

Not all of those guys stayed up. But the guys who were drafted in the first round stayed up. Also note: Hicks was the highest drafted position player since Mauer (16th overall). From the time he was drafted until the time they signed Sano, he was by far the best position player in the system. I think it's fair to say the really want him to win the job out of spring training.

 

Of those on the list, I think the only one who was promoted from AA and "stuck" and that's Mauer.

 

Revere spent plenty of time in AAA before becoming a "permanent" MLB player, and I assume he'll . Parmelee was sent back down to crush AAA before being called back up this season and while he should be able to stick around that remains to be proven. Benson got his first taste of the majors from AA but was that was just for roster expansion and he's struggled in the minors ever since. Dozier actually started in AAA before he proved what many of us said, that he wasn't ML worthy yet.

 

So, of that list, only Mauer, one of the top 3-4 hitters this organization has ever seen, stuck from AA. I'm not sure Hicks is in the same category and I hope we don't see what happened to Dozier, a shattering of confidence happen to him.

[Dave T]

I am just fine with letting Hicks get some experience in AAA before being called up. Let Mastroianni and Benson fight it out for a couple months.

[Riverbrian]

I will place my faith in Gardy and TR. If Hicks opens the season... I'd understand... If he is delayed for the Arb Clock... I'd understand.

 

Benson... Has to turn it around a little in the minors first. In my opinion. A opinion based on very little eyeballing.

[ThePuck]

I will place my faith in Gardy and TR.

Hmmm. Okay

[LaBombo]

He had a top-5 OPS in the Eastern League as one of the younger players, and he played excellent defense in center field. I think your standard for greatness must be pretty high.

Shouldn't standards be REALLY high when bringing up an AA player solely to fill a need? He struck out in a fifth of his at bats, and he'll see a big drop in average if he can't sustain that .350-ish BABIP. Yes, he was very good, but let's face it: nobody would be crying foul if he started the year in AAA had the Twins hung on to Span and/or Revere until the 2013 trade deadline.

[twinsnorth49]

If he performs up to expectations then they'll look to extend him in a couple of years anyway. If he can play now, he should play.

 

Let's set aside the fact that Hicks had a good, but not great, year at New Britain, and is hardly a solid bet to be a plus player on Opening Day. If you bring him up you're still just trading two months of Aaron Hicks the prospect for a year of Aaron Hicks the seasoned major leaguer in his prime, and hopefully playing for a contender instead of a rebuilder.

 

If this were the Yankees, then yes, you could just buy that year back with an extension without another thought. But it's the Twins, and if you extend him you'll be paying a premium to do so and taking money from a finite pool. The loss of that money could very likely result in the loss of a veteran or a budget issue that prevents a free agent signing.

 

I am setting aside the facts that it may be too early, talent wise. I'm just saying the decision about whether he is or isn't, shouldn't be about money.

 

Paying at a "premium" is pretty speculative, if Hicks lives up to the hype then the team should decide on the premium themselves by offering an early extension, instead of arbitration setting the price, either way they are going to pay. I just don't believe a move like that is going to cost the team in the future the same way you seem to think it will.

 

The whole issue is hardly that big a deal though, would I like to see him play? Yes, would it cause a bunch of contrived angst if I had to wait for two months? No.

[Riverbrian]

I will place my faith in Gardy and TR.

Hmmm. Okay

 

Its not that hard to do... I'm able to read stats and scouting reports. The majority of scouting reports that I read come from sources outside the organization.

 

It's really easy for me to place faith in Twins talent evaluators who work and watch the players everyday. They have much much more information than anything I can cobble together.

 

Have they made mistakes... Yes... A bunch of them... So has every other organization. I'm just not comfortable making definitive statements with the amount of knowledge that I have and if I can't place faith in our staff... Where can I turn?

[twinsnorth49]

I will place my faith in Gardy and TR.

Hmmm. Okay

 

As opposed to who? Sorry rhetorical question.

[Yoshii]

+ 1

[ThePuck]

if I can't place faith in our staff... Where can I turn?

 

The bottle? :-)

[Yoshii]

Here is what you willl hear about Hicks when he is sent down- He needs triple A AB's - we have three young centerfielders and we need Hicks to play everday - He needs to work on his __________ so we sent him to triple A. He will be the centerfielder an hour after the full year of service date passes. That is usually around June 1st. No way out of spring training.

 

+ 1

[Riverbrian]

if I can't place faith in our staff... Where can I turn?

 

The bottle? :-)

 

I did that... I'm a happy drunk... It only raised my sunny disposition.

[ThePuck]

if I can't place faith in our staff... Where can I turn?

 

The bottle? :-)

 

I did that... I'm a happy drunk... It only raised my sunny disposition.

 

If you look at it, Benson or Hicks will have to be with the team. We only have one guy on the 25 man that can play CF

[righty8383]

 

If you look at it, Benson or Hicks will have to be with the team. We only have one guy on the 25 man that can play CF

 

Wouldn't it be fun to have Willingham in left, Parm in center, and Doumit in right?

[ThePuck]

 

If you look at it, Benson or Hicks will have to be with the team. We only have one guy on the 25 man that can play CF

 

Wouldn't it be fun to have Willingham in left, Parm in center, and Doumit in right?

 

That would be interesting :-)

[shs_59]

I'm not saying Hicks shouldn't be the front-runner for the CF job in and after ST.

 

I'm saying it would be a catostrophic mistake (potentially) to hand Hicks the CF job out of ST.

 

Send Him down to AAA let him Earn his way up, and even if he doesn't (playing poorly) call him up in August or September for good.

Eric Hosmer is a decent and one of the latest of MANY examples. ............ in the season which the Royals debuted Hosmer he was actually in AAA out of ST for 1 little month in April where he DESTROYED AAA pitching, they called him up tooo early (I thought) around May 1st. He then went on to MURDER Major League pitching (for the most part) but in the parts of 2 years since he has MASSIVELY struggled and they might of ruined him because of the mistake.

 

Hicks to Rochester Pleasse Terry Ryan and Co !!!!!!!!!

[shs_59]

I guarantee you another thing Nick.

 

If Hicks is playing in Minnesota in April of 2013 instead of April 2014.

 

I predict he'll hitt about .220/310/380

 

That is not acceptable. And I wouldn't be shocked if he did a little worse. He's Not Ready Now. I firmly believe it.