New and Improved

Aaron Hicks looks like a ballplayer. And the Twins thought he was going to be a terrific one. Minnesota's first round draft pick (#14 overall) in 2008 was expected to become a franchise mainstay alongside Joe Mauer. But things didn't go as planned for the switch hitter. Never showing much consistency in parts of three major league seasons, the Twins finally tired of waiting and swapped Hicks to the Yankees in the winter of '16 for backup catcher J.R. Murphy. Neither player impressed last year, Murphy failed to live up to expectations in Minnesota, while Hicks was at best a fourth outfielder, with a strong throwing arm best used as a defensive replacement with the Yankees.
But this spring, someone else showed up at Yankee camp. It wasn't the tentative hitter and under achiever. It was a dynamic player who almost beat out Aaron Judge for the regular job in right field. He played so impressively, he forced himself into a rotation with Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury -- until Ellsbury's concussion and sprained neck forced him onto the disabled list. Since then, Hicks has looked like the player the Twins thought they drafted nine years ago. Hitting over .300, making great plays in the outfield and banging out home runs from both sides of the plate. His pair of round trippers Friday night raised his season total to 10. Combine that with his always first-rate defense and the Yankees -- already brimming with young talent such as Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Greg Bird -- might have unleashed another budding talent as their rebuild goes more quickly than expected.