Minor League Ball Gameday Discussion, March 25

Good morning prospect watchers. Here is today's discussion thread for minor league prospect discussion and spring training news from Florida and Arizona. Some potential items of interest for you:

***Aaron Hicks has officially won the center field job for the Minnesota Twins by hitting .350/.397/.650 this spring, with four homers, 16 RBI, and three steals. Hicks has always had outstanding physical tools, with above-average to excellent natural abilities in all categories, though it took the 2008 first-round pick some time to work out the kinks in his approach. He hit .286/.384/.460 last year for Double-A New Britain, with 13 homers, 79 walks, 32 steals, and 116 strikeouts in 472 at-bats. Although it seems like he has been around forever, Hicks is still only 23 years old.

The question now: how patient will the Twins be if he struggles? I had been assuming that he would need some Triple-A time, but they don't think he needs it. Will they stick with their conviction if he's hitting .150 on May 15th?

***Grant Brisbee on the uselessness of spring stats or; how Yasiel Puig is fooling us, but Brandon Belt isn't. Also, Yuniesky Betancourt.

***MinorLeagueBaseball.com has an interview with Chicago White Sox prospect Courtney Hawkins.

***New York Mets outfield prospect Matt Den Dekker has a broken wrist; surgery may or may not be required.