Why is Aaron Hicks not in Beloit?

by cmathewson on May 23, 2009 1:34 PM EDT in WTF

The Twins refuse to say why on earth they keep their top prospect in Extended Spring Training.

Last year, the Twins kept their top draft choice from 2007--Ben Revere--down in Extended Spring Training despite a great year in rookie ball following his draft. Revere hit.325/.388/.425/853 in the GCL in 2007 and figured to follow a common path to Beloit in 2008. That was the path many top draft picks had taken with less success in the GCL. Chris Parmalee is an example. Instead they held him back until the end of April, and only promoted him when an injury opened a spot. He went on to flirt with .400 for most of the summer and ended up hitting, .379/.429/.495/974. Leaving us all to question why they held him back in the first place. The answer the organization gave was that he needed to work on his defense in Extendeds, especially his throwing, which is his primary weakness as a player.

Fast forward to this year. The Twins again kept their top draft pick from 2008--Aaron Hicks--in Extendeds while the Beloit squad went north without him. This was even more of a head scratcher because Hicks had an even better year in the GCL than Revere, putting up a.314/.405/.491/.896 line while wowing people with his arm and base-running skills. Jake Mauer, who managed the GCL team, was quoted as saying Hicks was the best player in the whole league last year. And, unlike Revere, Hicks was a highly touted draft pick with five tools who only slid to his slot (#15 overall) in the draft because of a plethora of college pitchers in the draft. Revere, on the other hand, was projected as a third round choice and widely seen as a reach (#28 overall) by the Twins to save money.

This is not just a selfish attitude on my part--wanting to see the Twins top prospect play in a regular league. This is about what's best for the prospect. How can he develop if he's not playing against competition at his level? Clearly he's ready for the Midwest League and he needs to start playing against tougher competition to hone his skills.

I have been content to bide my time thinking maybe there's a skill they wanted Hicks to work on until a roster spot opened up. But, as Roger's weekly minor league update has shown, they've had lots of roster churn in Beloit and still no sign of promoting Aaron Hicks. This week alone, they had three openings on the roster and chose to promote pitchers instead.

Perhaps they wanted to give their 23-year old outfielders--Evan Bigley, Ozzie Lewis, Michael Harrington, and Adam Severino--a chance. All of them had had decent to great years in Elizabethton last year. In Bigley's and Lewis' case, they had such huge years in E-Town, that I wouldn't even dream of supplanting them with Hicks. But Harrington and Severino seemed marginal to me. I mean, Harrington was a 13th round draft choice as a senior out of a small college league. Why keep him in favor of the number one pick in the same year? Severino was a 26th round pick in that same draft. Again, he's no big loss. Though I'm suspicious of the Twins on this point, I can understand giving them a month or so to prove themselves.

We are now six full weeks into Beloit's season and it's clear that neither Harrington nor Severino are worth keeping while they risk stunting Hick's development. Harrington is hitting .215/.276/.346/.622. Severino is hitting .203/.295/.290/.585. These are 23 year olds in low A ball and they can't even cut it. In Harrington's case, I guess I could see giving him a half a season to develop. He did hit .272/.361/.464/.825 in Elizabethton last year. But Severino hit .243/.366.369/.735 as a corner outfielder for Elizabethton last year. He didn't cut it then and he's not 's not cutting it now. So I repeat, why are we wasting a roster spot and letting Hicks' talent rot on the vine in the process?

Will somebody from the Twins organization explain this to me, please?

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Comments

Agreed

Hicks needs to get up asap.

by Cobra312004 on May 23, 2009 3:19 PM EDT reply actions

I've been railing against this all year

It’s silly to play all these 23 year olds with much less talent than Hicks when he’s shown he’s ready for the league.

I don’t like them having 2 rookie teams, as I’ve said before. My preference would be that they have a GCL team and a NY-PENN League (short-season) team, and then follow this path for their better prospects: have the HS kids start in the GCL their first year as they do now, but send the college draftees to the NYP. Then, for those who succeed, send the HS guys to Beloit the following year, and the college guys to Fort Myers.

It takes Twins prospects so freaking long to get traction in the organization; even a guy like Revere would be in AA for most clubs. He’s 21 and has shown he can handle A ball. Hicks would be in full season ball for literally any other organization.

by Eric in Madison on May 23, 2009 3:28 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with you

but I have to say I like the overall results. Do I think Hicks is ready for the Midwest League? Yes. But I can’t in general argue with the results.

by Adam Peterson on May 23, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, yes, it's not as if the Twins don't generate

players for the major league roster. They absolutely deserve credit for that.

Still, I sometimes think they unnecessarily hamper themselves. Look at Anthony Slama, for example. In another organization, he’d have time at AAA now, and be a real option for a dubious bullpen. Instead, he’s getting his first taste of double A.

by Eric in Madison on May 23, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Gomez

Maybe the Twins look at how the Mets rushed Gomez (and Guerra) and think that he could have benefitted from some extra tutoring. The last thing we want Hicks to be is the next Gomez: 5 tools and no idea how to use them.

by wcooley on May 24, 2009 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions

If we thought Gomez was rushed and not ready

don’t you think we’d have sent him down tp work on his tools rather than play every 4th day?

by Adam Peterson on May 28, 2009 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions

EST

There very well might be something more valuable about EST than just sticking him out there in Low A ball. They could have him working on something specific, or fixing a mechanical issue, that wouldn’t prevent him from succeeding in A ball. Things like that get SOLIDIFIED, not fixed early in the minors.

Think of Matt Garza. His lack of off-speed stuff didn’t prevent him from pitching in AAA, but it was hard for him to learn it until the Twins forced him to because he was able to perform even better just pumping his fastball. That didn’t help his development.

I would say I’d be wurprised if we didn’t see Hicks move soon.

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by AdamOnFirst on May 23, 2009 3:41 PM EDT reply actions

What are they working on?

This is a good approach, I’d just like to understand what we’re working on with Hicks. Is there a glaring hole that requires EST?

by Adam Peterson on May 23, 2009 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd be happy if they told us

Last year, Rantz got on the radio and said Revere needed to work on his throwing mechanics. If he just did the same thing this year and just said they wanted to work on his footwork on steals or whatever, I’d be OK with it. Their silence speaks volumes.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 23, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions

See, I don't agree with this

Because if all you need is a reason like the above, then if they cared, they would just lie to you. My thing is, prospects should be challenged. Not beyond their abilities, but they should be in places that force them to work and get better to succeed. That’s not EST.

Besides, if he has something to work on, why couldn’t he do it in Beloit? Isn’t that what the minor leagues are for?

At this point, I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if Hicks winds up spending the summer in E-ton, which strikes me as just this side of absurd. We’ll see.

by Eric in Madison on May 23, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

One thing you can do in the EST that you can't do in the MWL

He could hit in every inning. He could pinch run in every inning. He could have the equivalent of a ghostie and hit in every at bat in an inning. The competition is as good, but you can get more reps.

But I wrote this because I agree with you. Six weeks is plenty long to work on something that intensively. It’s time for him to play with the big boys.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on May 23, 2009 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Thought provoking

But I refuse to fall into the Gleeman trap of thinking that the Twins are either big meanies or stupid.

by wcooley on May 24, 2009 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

I want to see Hicks in Beloit, but primarily just selfishly. I want to see him in my daily game recaps and see what he could be. As good as Revere was in his first full season in Beloit, look at the struggles of Parmelee, Benson, Plouffe, Sanchez, and others. So as much as I want to see him in Beloit, I’m not overly concerned about his long-term future.

by SethSpeaks on May 23, 2009 4:00 PM EDT reply actions

Youngsters

These are still young guys. They will get their chance and advance fast if need be Besides mechanics and such, they also have to grow up, learn to work as a new team, and learn to be away from home. Maybe getter in Ft. Myers (where the Twins also have a High-A ball team) than Beloit. Living in Beloit is a major adjustment, my friends. Yes, so is Elizabethton TN, but that’s just for a short term as you learn to play with your teammates.

I assume the Twins do know what they are doing, and giving everyone a chance.

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by rosterman on May 23, 2009 4:25 PM EDT reply actions

It's a government conspiracy.

… don’t pretend like you don’t agree with me.

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by Andersklasen on May 23, 2009 6:20 PM EDT reply actions

It is more than that

Word is his table manners are brutal. He is in EST to learn the value of the salad fork.

by wcooley on May 24, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions

this seems like a pretty minor concern to me....

I can see why people are excited and want to see him play, but I have some faith that the Twins have a valid reason for having him in EST.

I am even more certain that if Hicks career is somehow derailed by him spending a little extra time in EST, the Twins are doing themselves a favor.

by guinness junky on May 24, 2009 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

We have to remember – we only see the stats, we don’t see them play regularly, if at all. Theres a lot that goes into a team besides the stats and I am completely sure the Twins have a good reason to keep him at extended spring training right now.

by hitormiss1414 on May 25, 2009 4:27 PM EDT reply actions