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« Needs and Luxuries: Oakland Athletics | Main | Nationals Won't Spend Money On Starters »
Torii Hunter Turned Down 3/45 Offer
According to Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Twins offered Torii Hunter a contract a few weeks ago for three years and $45MM. Ken Rosenthal had reported it as a four-year, $56MM offer, which Hunter denied. One source of Rosenthal's had indicated that the bare minimum hunter might accept is 5/75. Christensen, however, says Hunter is after a deal like the 5/70 J.D. Drew ended up with. If so, Hunter is being plenty fair with his demand.
Indeed, Hunter's main concern is the length of the contract. If he's coming in at five years and the Twins at three, maybe they can arrive at four. I could actually see a 4/56 contract as the Twins' last and best offer. But Hunter has talked about not wanting to take a discount and a "burning curiosity" to see what's on the open market. He seems likely to leave the Twins.
As far as Hunter's next team, Ken Rosenthal has speculated on the Yankees, Phillies, Braves, Padres, Rockies, Giants, White Sox, and Rangers.
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Is it just me or is Hunter severely over-valued? When did a .270/15/90 guy that plays great defense become a $15m/year player?
Hunter is having a good season this year. No doubt about it. But the guy is 32 this year. I can understand the concern on the Twins side by being afraid to commit $15m to a guy who will be 37 when the contract is finished.
In the short term paying Hunter top dollars isn't a bad strategy. Hence a 3/45 deal makes some sense. But 5/70? Way too much money.
Just ask the Red Sox how they feel about their recent investment. Or the Blue Jays for that matter.
Posted by: bjsguess | September 04, 2007 at 11:11 AM
yeah you can have vernon wells back.
Posted by: Guitar Hero | September 04, 2007 at 11:29 AM
you can take drew back too
Posted by: 04Forever | September 04, 2007 at 12:25 PM
hunter earned it though, with his stellar defense and recently on fire offense, he is worth the investment because of his durability, which is what JD Drew lacked
Posted by: 04Forever | September 04, 2007 at 12:26 PM
Hopefully Kevin Towers won't even dial Hunter's # this Winter. I'd much rather have Cameron back, especially if he takes a Brian Giles type discount at 3/30. I'd put money on either Cameron or Rowand in CF next year for the Padres with Bradley over in LF.
Posted by: WestCoastBias | September 04, 2007 at 12:30 PM
i think Hunter has turned a corner offensively. It looks like he is probably just better hitter than he was 2 years ago. 5/70 doesnt seem outrageous at all for this guy.
Posted by: themfightnwords | September 04, 2007 at 02:00 PM
The thing that is funny about Wells this year ( and I dont want to go after him cuz he is the man and playing hurt), but there was a few people during the winter trying to tell everybody that toronto should trade Wells to LA, the packages being discussed were something like a package starting with Penny and a couple of youngsters. Think they could have gotten Penny and KEmp? I am sure the dodgers are glad they didnt pounce on that one. The point of my post though really was Alex Rios. A few people said that he IS Vernon Wells, and many were skeptical. Rios is a stud. The standings might look different with Rios in center and Kemp in right and Halladay, Burnett, Penny, Marcum and Mcgowanin the rotation. The BJ Ryan thing obviously didnt help.
Posted by: nrmax88 | September 04, 2007 at 02:48 PM
If you sign Hunter for 5/70 you had better hope that he has turned the corner on his offensive capabilities. If he reverts to his career averages this would be a terrible signing.
One more note. For the Twins this would be a huge gamble. They are not the Yankees or Sox, a team that can cover up big time signing mistakes. Signing Hunter to $15m/year represents an extremely large portion of their payroll. It limits what they can do if Hunter doesn't produce.
Twins should have traded him this year. He won't resign and getting 2 picks won't be close to what they could have scored from a trade.
Posted by: bjsguess | September 04, 2007 at 04:34 PM
For some reason I don't understand the Braves on the speculation of signing Tori Hunter...They have a viable option in Brandon Jones and signing Tori Hunter would cripple the amount of salary they would have to spend on a starting pitcher...The Braves 3-5 pitchers have been horrendous...I think that is their true need...
Posted by: smscardinals1 | September 04, 2007 at 06:28 PM
Pass on Hunter, extend Santana.
Posted by: striker | September 05, 2007 at 12:56 PM
I'm really hoping the White Sox sign Torii this winter, if his contract demands aren't too insane.
The Sox really need a player with his defense and hustle, and offensively he's no slouch
Plus, it would also hurt our biggest rival, the Twins.
Posted by: astrosfan | September 06, 2007 at 04:03 PM