How much objective evidence is there that he's improving, other than not looking completely lost like he did in April? If there's good news, I've missed it. Won't be the first or last time. Subjectively, we can agree to disagree. He's certainly better than he was on opening day, and he's still young enough to make dramatic improvements in his game. Still looks overmatched left-handed and erratic in the field to me, though. Yes, it's a popular notion that Hicks 'deserves' to stay up or wouldn't benefit from being sent down. But it's hard for me to put much stock in the opinion of anyone (especially the Twins) who thought it was a good idea for him to skip AAA entirely and even bat frigging leadoff, for heaven's sake, on opening day. That was a no-brainer bad call. As for the others, well, their opinions would mean more if they supported them with examples of other players who were developed effectively by keeping them in the majors despite their being among the worst players in baseball in a major facet of their game, which Hicks is when he bats left-handed. it should go without saying that I'm not a Hicks hater, but I already know that it doesn't for some people. He seems a good kid, poised and anxious to learn and improve his game. If there's a good reason why that shouldn't happen at aaa for a while, I still haven't heard it.