Q.  Have you seen him?

A.  Ya.  I'll tell you what.  One look at this kid swinging a bat just about knocked me off my chair.  Here's an example.  Wow!

He s a special, special athlete, no doubts there.  Supposedly he played golf very well as a teenager, and that is how butter-smooth and torquey and balanced his swing is. 

He's as sudden as an eyeblink.  He's explosively strong, and he hasn't even filled out yet.  He's track-fast.  Physically speaking, he hits you like Justin Upton, maybe with even a better (golfer's) swing.

You can definitely, absolutely tell why the scouts swoon away and die with beatific smiles on their faces.  Three swings in BP and you can see this kid has ARod type physical movements -- applied with ARod effectiveness.  Here's an athlete where the horsepower gets to the back wheels.

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Great high school pitcher, threw 94-96 -- as did Adam Jones.  You can visualize the Bansai tree, no doubts there.

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Q.  Doesn't convince you, though?

A.  You can't get carried away by how beautiful his movements are.  Why haven't his gifts asserted themselves at least a little bit like other guys' do?

I'll cheerfully defer to the scouts.  But you know, I know and they know that when the scouts say 30-30 in the majors, the scouts are guessing to some extent.

Will sit up and listen with interest to a great scout, a Jongewaard type, who says this kid will be great.  But for me, #10-in-baseball is over-the-top for a guy who has not performed well.

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Q.  What does HQ have on him?

A.  Grade 9D -- 30% chance of being an All-Star in the majors.  Beyond that, all they have really is:

• Wiry-strong, very athletic
• Mature at plate for age (yes, he is selective - DrD)
• Could evolve into power-speed-GG star
• Super-strong arm, but raw as far as routes & jumps

Rob Gordon of BaseballHQ and Jeremy Deloney of HQ both drop Hicks outside their top 50's, much less their top 10's, both putting Hicks at #54 in the minors prior to 2010.  And in 2010 Hicks has shown less progress than desired, so he's down if anything.   HQ doesn't even have Hicks as the #1 in the Twins org -- much less the #9 player in baseball.

Personally I think this is one more example of how HQ's analysis is a cut above what you get other places.  I'd have Hicks 50, 60, 70 myself.

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Q.  Putting the trade where?

A.  Are you going to deal Cliff Lee for an Adam Jones type who is several levels premature on passing the tests?  I'm not.

But maybe Zduriencik knows Hicks to be a future Heyward type, or something.  Who knows.  As for SSI, color us underwhelmed.  One more 20-year-old tools guy to throw elbows with Greg Halman and Julio Morban and Michael Saunders and Dennis Raben.  Pass.

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Q.  Good value on a first offer for Lee?

A.  If this is supposed to be Zduriencik's request and the Twins' pass, I'd say it means that strictly on a tools-scouting basis, Capt Jack is VERY high on both players.  Higher than I am, that's for sure.

If it's the Twins' offer, then objectively speaking, this is one elite prospect, one quite-good prospect and who knows what else for Lee.  That's a real strong start, a "pick any two ...and change" type structure.

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Get a better player though,

Dr D