WHY HE’LL MAKE THE ROSTER: The Twins are looking for someone to fill the center field role now that Denard Span and Ben Revere are gone, and Hicks is part of a three-man race for that job, along with Benson and Darin Mastroianni. The 23-year-old Hicks brings a lot to the plate as an outfielder. He has speed (32 steals last year), a strong arm and patience (.384 on-base percentage and 79 walks in 2012). His eye at the plate might also make him a viable candidate for a leadoff hitter, something Minnesota needs to find before the season starts. WHY HE’LL START 2013 IN THE MINORS: Hicks has yet to play a game higher than Double-A New Britain. He spent the entire 2012 season at Double-A, where he hit .286 with 13 home runs, 61 RBI and 32 stolen bases. The Twins have shown in past years that they’re not afraid to have players bypass Double-A en route to the majors — Benson and Chris Parmelee did that as September call-ups in 2011. Those were different cases, however, as they were only up for a month and not to start the season. There’s also the issue of Hicks’ service time clock. If he were to start the season in the minors and get called up several weeks into the season, it would delay his service time clock and keep him under team control longer.
(Derick Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)
