Torii Hunter is Returning to the Twins

The story was broken about 24 hours ago.

Okay, some of you take your baseball and the Twins WAAAYYY to seriously IMHO. Torii chose to come back to the Twins. Reportedly he left money and/or years on the table, to come back to the Twins, losers of 90 games a season since forever.

 

Yeah he's older, not even good a fielder any more, probably won't hit as well, I don't care, and I don't care about the Pohlad fortune; they can afford it.

 

What has had me smiling all day is a great Twin chose to come back here and try to help rebuild the specialness of a team that had it in spades back in the day, that "played the game the right way." Souhan's story about Puckett opening his wallet to a young Hunter, that's what has been missing, real star-power AND personality that can influence young guys to work harder and have fun too.

 

No way are the Twins worse off having this guy back in the fold.

 

Somewhat off-topic, but the Edmonton Oilers are proof you can have all the glorious prospects in the world, but without the proper mentorship, they founder.

 

I am hoping Hicks and Arcia will be the first beneficiaries of this, then Buxton.

 

I think of it as an add to the coaching staff as well.

 

Anyhoo, baseball is a pleasure and pastime, and getting back one of my favorite Twins ever is more a cause of celebration than despair.

 

Please take this as it is intended, but there is an emotional side to the game that gets lost in stats and advanced stats and uber-advanced stats. Feel good stories should be enjoyed even if the numbers don't add up.

No way he left money on the table

I'm sure the only reason he came here was the money.

i love this signing for what the ESPN article may have hit on below: 

"Hunter's return also figures to help out Joe Mauer, the face of the franchise who has always preferred to lead by example and has never been comfortable with speaking up and holding teammates accountable.

Now Hunter is back to take up that responsibility, and he has the résumé, the paycheck and the on-field skills to pull it off." 

Since that point of view amounts to valuing looks over personal attributes, and is considered shallow (at least when I do it ), I'm not sure this analogy goes in the direction you hoped.

Not sure I follow The point I was making is that when they start talking leadership and intangibles it usually means you can't play anymore. I think the press conference proved my point on the leadership BS

No way he left money on the table

I'm sure the only reason he came here was the money.

 Being that he said the following last week, I agree.  Not that he does not have some genuine emotional response on coming back, but we were not his first choice (he understandably wanted to be on a stronger contender) but he either did not get the offers or we simply had a much better monetary offer.

"Hunter told the Los Angeles Daily News on Saturday that Baltimore, Seattle and the Rangers are at the top of his list. Hunter said Minnesota, his original club, is also a possibility but not as likely as the other clubs."

Don't feed the greed,

Up until 24 hours ago, hunter was linked to at least four teams and some reports suggested the twins are not in his top three. What type of story should they have ran a week ago?

Up until 24 hours ago, hunter was linked to at least four teams and some reports suggested the twins are not in his top three. What type of story should they have ran a week ago?

Plus, it is not like it was not discussed at all on the board.  There were a few threads heavily discussing the potential of Torii returning the last couple of weeks.

I guess I don't know what was missed. Seems like the site has stories about things that happened and things that we would like to see happen. That would have been gossip and rumors.

Actually, after hearing his press conference, in spite of my previous rah rah post, my next question is, why do I bother with pro sports? Really, I'm a grown man. The better part of me calls me on the absurdity of it all.

Berardino is on the radio now. He said he asked about outfield defense and gay marriage because those are the two things fans were talking about the most in regards to the Hunter signing. 

 

This guy is a great beat writer, we're lucky to have him in our market. 

Who the hell is Bernadino talking to that Hunter being against gay marriage is one of the two big talking points?

Mostly I was hoping Hunter returning wouldn't happen .... and I had plenty of opportunities to express that on TD ... and did. 

The source involved here was likely Hunter's agent playing hardball with the Twins.

In hindsight that it easy.  But in the thick of it, most on these boards were suggesting he had no interest in returning to the Twins, but was using the coming home angle as a ploy to get more money out of a contender.  He very well may have been having dinner with folks in Seattle, Baltimore, Texas, or other areas.

I guess I am just not sure what the story TD missed should have said?   It was common knowledge we were pushing for him and we were allegedly on his list.  Should they have broken a story that he was coming here when it was still not clear he was?   I don't see anyone that broke a story saying that.  The only newsworthy item beyond rumors with multiple teams linked was the fact that he signed, about 36 hours ago.

The fact that the story was broken by USA today is probably not worth noting either.  I am guessing they have slightly more resources at their disposal than the typical TD writer, who best I can tell all have other full time jobs.  Personally, I like the fact that TD writers always give props to the actual person that breaks the story.  It is very classy.  I see them go out of their way to do so on the message boards and within their columns.  Another approach would be the one CBS did on their story "our own Jon Heyman has confirmed that Torii Hunter has signed with Minnesota on a one year contract".  It gives the appearance that they are breaking something when they didn't, with no mention of who did break it.

I do find it fascinating that no contender would offer him the same, or better, deal. Or maybe they did, and he really wanted to come home.

 

I'd have rather traded Milone for Saunders, and moved Saunders to LF.

I don't have time to list the things I would have done before signing Hunter.

Does anyone else find it funny that the Twins say they still think Torii can play defense, yet they moved Arcia to left? Isn't that an indictment that we feel Arcia > Hunter, so much so that it is worth moving the 23 year old out of his long term position?

Or did the Twins take a look at last year and say, we need to give Acia more space to chase balls down!