Torii Hunter’s Minnesota Homecoming Perfect for Twins
Veteran outfielder Torii Hunter signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal on Tuesday to return to Minnesota, a perfect signing for a young Minnesota team.
In the 11-years that Torii Hunter was the Twins star outfielder, Minnesota (in a dome for a majority of it) went to the postseason six times, getting as far as the ALCS in 2002 against the then-Anaheim Angels, and won six AL Central pennants including three in a row from 2002-04. But don’t be confused, Hunter’s return to Minnesota won’t necessarily equal in October baseball for the Twins in 2015. Instead, he’s helping the Twins plant the seeds for a future return to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1991.
“You talk about true love,” Hunter said. “That’s the Twins right there.”
Hunter signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal to return to his old stomping grounds on Tuesday, a perfect deal for an aging veteran outfielder who most likely could start every day, but is returning more so to help teach the Twins youngsters how to be successful.
He passed on playing for his hometown Texas Rangers, who made a push to sign him along with several other teams.
According to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press, Hunter is perfect for the new Twins under new manager Paul Molitor.
“When [Paul] Molitor took over for the fired Ron Gardenhire as manager, he spoke about the need for a strong-willed group of veterans to show the youngsters how to play the right way. Molitor did the same thing for the Twins in the final two seasons of his career, which overlapped with Hunter’s first two seasons in a Twins uniform.”
Age hasn’t slowed down the five-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glover too much. He’s played in over 140 games in the last nine straight seasons and was named to the All-Star team in 2013. He’s the same guy who robbed Barry Bonds in the 2002 All-Star Game, helped lead Detroit to a pair of postseason appearances in 2013 and 2014 and the same guy who will still make Gold Glove-caliber plays in center in 2015.
Hunter hit .286 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI for the Tigers last year as his batting average dropped for a second straight year after he hit a career-high .313 with the Angels in 2012.
But it’s not his bat or his glove that entices the Twins to bring him back, it’s his experience.
“In 2002, our team wasn’t as talented as the team they have today,” he mentioned. “We had the mentality and the attitude to go out and fight you every day. We were heartless and we played together.
“They have the talent. They just need that fight, that willingness and that hunger. I think they can win next year.”
Hunter will get to work with the Twins youngsters like 25-year-old Aaron Hicks, 23-year-old Oswaldo Arcia and 24-year-old Danny Santana, all three of which played in at least over 60 games with the Twins last year.
Santana is the star of that new Twins outfield trio, hitting .319 (the only Twin to hit over .300 in 2014) with seven homers and 40 RBI while Arcia and Hicks hit .231 and .215 respectively.
If it counts for anything, the “kids” were still “kids” when the news of Hunter’s signing broke. Just ask Hicks:
Welcome back to the twins @toriihunter48 !!!!! It will be a honor to play along side my hero growing up.
— Aaron Hicks (@AaronHicks31) December 3, 2014
“The experience I have, and all the guys I’ve talked to in my career, it’s something I want to give back,” Hunter sai to James Schmehl of MLive.com a few years ago. “If I can make my teammates better, that’s what I’m going to do.”
The Twins have finished in last place in the AL Central in three of the last four years, hitting the 70-win mark for the first time last year during that stretch. The losing trend comes after the Twins were swept in back-to-back ALDS by the New York Yankees in 2009-10.
If the Twins were going to base a signing on numbers (or sabremetrics) alone, then Hunter’s signing makes no sense – an aging outfielder with a diminishing bat and range in the outfield. Numbers alone, there’s no way that they would win with him.
But Hunter’s homecoming of sort goes beyond numbers and the Twins being mistaken for a team making a World Series run. Sometimes, you need someone who’s been there for your club to help develop the future of your club.
That is why the Twins brought Hunter back.
Well played Minnesota, well played.