Torii Hunter Rumors

More From Torii Hunter

On Sunday, Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press had this to say about Torii Hunter: The longtime Twin grows so sentimental about his former home whenever he’s in Minneapolis, he told Jim Rantz, the franchise’s director of minor leagues, that he would like to finish his career with the Twins. But not until his five-year, $90 million contract with the Angels runs out, of course. "He said, 'I'll come off the bench and pinch-hit,’'" manager Ron Gardenhire said of the 33-year-old center fielder. "He said, 'Save me a spot.’'" Gardenhire added that "we'll probably work something out" if...   Continue Reading

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Odds & Ends: Hunter, Keppinger, Swisher

Links for Monday... Become a fan of MLB Trade Rumors on Facebook! We're up to 9,828 fans. Jed Lowrie will have wrist surgery, and Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe learned that he could return by the All-Star break. Julio Lugo, recovering from knee surgery, should be ready to take over soon. ESPN's Jorge Arangure Jr. says "negotiations between the New York Yankees and Cuban exile prospect Felix Perez have broken down because of the outfielder's problem in obtaining a visa." Perez was set for a bonus north of $3MM, but questions have been raised about his age. The Yanks...   Continue Reading

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Angels Do Not Have Interest In Dye

WEDNESDAY: Bill Shaikin talked to Angels GM Tony Reagins, who shot down Cowley's Dye rumor. Reagins said, "No truth to that rumor." Reagins apparently hasn't talked to the White Sox for a while, though Shaikin's source indicated the Angels did express interest in Dye before they re-signed Juan Rivera. MONDAY: The Los Angeles Angels have interest in Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. According to a major-league scout, the Angels are the latest team to express interest in acquiring Dye now that the Mark Teixeira ship has set sail to New York. Unlike...   Continue Reading

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Mark Teixeira Rumors: Friday

3:48pm: Jon Heyman believes the Red Sox are at their final number, at least $180MM. Scott Miller explains why you shouldn't be surprised if the Nationals sign Teixeira. 2:39pm: Buster Olney and Peter Gammons suggest a lower amount was offered by Boston: $165-170MM. That's seemingly at least $20MM short of what Boras wants. He might be happy with eight years, $184MM ($23MM per). Olney, Gammons, Adam Kilgore, and Nick Cafardo are all on board with the sentiment that the Red Sox remain in the mix for Teixeira. 9:33am: Jon Heyman says the Red Sox remain interested in Teixeira, but are...   Continue Reading

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Royals Payroll Could Reach $70 Million

Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City talked to Royals GM Dayton Moore recently. Moore hopes to sign Zack Greinke long-term. Greinke, however, is comfortable going year to year to maximize his earnings. Moore named three free agent bats he ranked above Mike Jacobs: Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, and Bobby Abreu. He implied those three are out of the Royals' price range. Moore feels that Jacobs will continue to improve. Moore says he has flexibility to extend payroll toward $70MM or even higher. He notes that last year the Royals tried to sign Jose Guillen and Torii Hunter, which would've pushed...   Continue Reading

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Rosenthal's Latest: Hunter, Santana, Quentin

It's Sunday again, so we've got some tidbits from Ken Rosenthal's Full Count video: Torii Hunter was courted by the White Sox and Rangers before signing with the Angels this past offseason; however, according to Hunter, he had a meeting scheduled with the Dodgers to discuss taking the spot that Andruw Jones would come to occupy. The Angels signed him, preventing the meeting. As we enter June, the sky is falling in Seattle... Rosenthal doesn't think there's a lot of regret in the Yankee organization for not acquiring Johan Santana. One executive notes Santana's throwing with increased effort this season...   Continue Reading

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Rangers Were Close To Acquiring Johan

SI.com's Jon Heyman checks in with some inside info from the What Might've Been file. He says the Rangers and Twins were close to an agreement on the players involved in a trade that would've sent Johan Santana to Texas. The Twins pulled the plug when Santana was noncommital about whether he'd approve a trade to the Rangers. They felt that this would've decreased his market value (instead the Twins ended up overplaying their hand and accepting the second or third-best offer). Heyman speculates that the Rangers could've offered Eric Hurley and/or Edinson Volquez, for starters. A Taylor Teagarden and...   Continue Reading

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Cubs Never Called Torii

I don't have enough for an odds and ends, so this little tidbit gets its own post today. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times learned that the Cubs never put in a call to Torii Hunter's agent this winter before he signed with the Angels. Torii's friend Derrek Lee found this shocking; he could have facilitated some talks. Hunter grew up a Cubs fan because of WGN, like many people outside of Illinois. The Cubs don't quite seem sold on Felix Pie as their center fielder, given their interest in Marlon Byrd earlier this year. He's had about 200 plate...   Continue Reading

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Odds and Ends: Santana, Hunter

Let's kick off the morning with some odds and ends, absent any earth-shattering rumors. I'll keep adding to this post. Awesome inside look at the Torii Hunter deal via Bob Nightengale. Hunter's first choice outside of Minnesota was the Cardinals, but they weren't interested. Hunter - not overpaid? So says J.C. Bradbury. Still some confusion about Johan Santana's no-trade clause. Buster Olney says it's full and doesn't indicate that the rights change on any certain date. Matthew Cerrone says it's a full NTC only until Opening Day '08, when it switches to 12 teams. Those are not mutually exclusive comments,..   Continue Reading

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Torii Hunter - Additional Thoughts

Random thoughts in the aftermath of the Torii Hunter shocker... We can't really say whether the Hunter signing was about money or winning, because a winning team made an offer far beyond any other club. It is inconclusive. U.S.S. Mariner notes that Hunter received the same contract Ichiro did, but he's not the same caliber of player. David Pinto sees a very old Angels outfield in the future. The Rangers were at five years, $75MM with a club option for 2013. Both Texas and the White Sox may now turn their attention to Aaron Rowand. Suddenly his perception that he's..   Continue Reading

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