My initial reaction upon hearing that the Twins and outfielder Torii Hunter had agreed to a one-year, $10.5 million contract that will put Hunter back in a Twins uniform for 2015 was pretty much the same as my initial reaction when I first heard the two parties had what media types were referring to as, “mutual interest.”
Why?
For the life of me, this just doesn’t make sense to me. Not if I ran the Twins. Not if I was Torii Hunter.
Sure, the Twins need outfield help. Oswaldo Arcia is going to play a corner outfield spot in 2015 and he’s not going to play it very well, so the Twins need some guys in the other two outfield spots who can cover their own areas and some of Arcia’s, too.
Eight or nine years ago, Hunter would have been a solution, but for the past several years, his outfield play has been one of those rare things in baseball that bring stat-heads and old-school types together. Whether you believe in defensive metrics or the “eye-test,” you probably have pretty much concluded that Hunter’s defensive game has deteriorated to the point where he’s no longer a positive contributor in that area.
Why would the Twins think he’s likely to be part of the solution to their defensive woes in the outfield?
And while we’re at it, why would Hunter want to join the Twins?
He’ll be 40 years old before next season ends. At that age, shouldn’t he be looking for opportunities to sign with a team that enters 2015 with a much better chance of playing ball in to October next year than the Twins have?
I get that new Twins manager Paul Molitor might like to have someone like Hunter in his clubhouse, especially given the reputation said clubhouse has had in recent years for lacking anything resembling a competitive spirit.
I get that the Twins front office might welcome a popular familiar face to include in their advertising, given the expected decline in ticket sales next year.
But I have always felt you have to first prove you’re among the best players on the field before you can lead in the clubhouse and I’m not convinced his young teammates will look at Hunter and see someone who still has the ability to perform at levels that earn their respect.
I also believe that wins will sell more tickets than the return of a popular familiar face.
But if this is what Molitor and the front office want, so be it. It’s just a straight one-year deal, so it won’t block any of the outfield prospects coming up and we all know that there’s no shortage of payroll space in the Twins’ budget right now.
As for Hunter, it’s a little harder to figure out what he’s thinking – but then, hasn’t that pretty much been the case throughout his career?
Still, he must have had other, better, offers. Didin’t he?
The Rangers, Orioles and Mariners all had been rumored to have interest and, with the way some teams have been throwing around money, he seemingly would have been able to get a multi-year deal somewhere. So why take a one-year deal in Minnesota?
There’s really only one reason I can think of.
Hunter may very well think his chances of finishing the season on a legitimate World Series contender are better if he starts the season with the Twins and then gets flipped in July to a contender for prospects, than if he started with a supposed contender.
We’ll call this the “Josh Willingham gambit.”
Why lock himself in to one supposed contender from the start when he may get a chance to join a team with a better shot mid-way through the season?
In the end, this is not a deal I particularly wanted to see. It certainly would not have been high on my wish-list if I were a starting pitcher for the Twins and I doubt it will make any free agent starting pitcher think the Twins are suddenly an attractive option (though their willingness to shell out $10.5 million to Hunter might at least demonstrate that the Twins aren’t shy about over-paying for what they want).
If Hunter discovers the fountain of youth somewhere under the right field overhang in Target Field or if General Manager Terry Ryan can turn Hunter in to some useful prospects at some point, then this deal certainly won’t be a disaster.
At least this is more interesting to discuss than what we’ve had to talk about to this point. Debating the relative pros and cons of base coaches and assistant hitting coaches was getting a little old, wasn’t it?
– JC
I assume they’re thinking, “We’ve not only got a new manager for the organization, but a first-time manager at that. We need some support and informal coaching. Someone a bit more outspoken than Joe, someone who might take another player to task for mental mistakes or slacking off rather than just leading by example.”
I’m sure that’s part of it, lisa. My concern, though, is that it’s difficult to have that impact if you’re no longer also viewed as a significant contributor on the field.
A guy who hits and makes the tough plays in the field is called a leader when he calls out teammates for not going all-out. But a guy who has to be covered for in the field by others’ efforts is going to get looked at very differently when he tries to exert that control behind the scenes.
I also think $10.5 million is a lot to pay for a life-coach in the clubhouse and that, given many of Hunter’s public comments over the years, I’m not sure he’s the ideal person for the life-coach job, anyway. But then I really don’t care about the money as long as it doesn’t keep the Twins from adding additional needed pieces.
I hope it all works out well for Hunter, the Twins and the other young players coming up who certainly could learn plenty from someone with his MLB experience.