I thought that I'd simply missed some trade b/w the two and that ATL was going to somehow have Stanton and Heyward roaming the OF for awhile. How fun would that be?

Thanks for clearing it up.

He hit in the .290s in both the Sally and FSL leagues, so the Eastern league is his first time with a below average batting average. The jump from high-A to AA is the biggest for hitter, the Eastern league isn't exactly hitter paradise, he's still just 19 and it was only for half a season so small sample size definitely applies. I wouldn't be too worried.

Even if his strikeout numbers are higher than you'd like, guys like Adam Dunn, Mark Reynolds and Ryan Howard have certainly made nice careers for themselves despite their strikeouts. So even if he ends up hitting .250-.270 in the majors (and he could be a .290 hitter yet) that's still a valuable bat, and unlike those three I mentioned before, all reports that I've heard rate his right field defense comfortably above average. So he should give value with his glove as well.

Regarding Hicks, anyone hear a coherent explanation of why the Twins started his league season so late? Him heating up at the very end begs the question of what he would've accomplished if he wasn't held out so long, assuming he was healthy (haven't heard otherwise). Almost feels like started too late rather than ended too soon, although I'm sure there is a good explanation that will make my comment foolish.