8:45pm: Hunter says he plans to keep playing and would like to return to the Tigers, tweets MLive.com’s James Schmehl.
7:59pm: In the aftermath of the Tigers’ ouster from the playoffs at the hands of the Orioles Sunday, veteran outfielder Torii Hunter said he was strongly considering retiring, according to MLive.com’s Chris Iott (via Twitter). “It’s 100 percent serious, bro. I have been thinking about it a long time,” Hunter said, via a tweet from the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.
The 39-year-old Hunter is at the end of his two-year, $26MM deal, so he’ll be a free agent after the season. He said in April that he we would be physically able to play for two or three more seasons. “I’m a man. A man is supposed to work. This is the only thing I know, the only thing I’m supposed to do,” he said at the time.
The longtime Twins and Angels outfielder had a strong season in 2012, batting .313/.365/.451 in his last season in Anaheim, but he’s faded a bit since then. He’s still a well above average hitter, with a line of .286/.319/.446 this season, but his once-brilliant defense has faded to the point that he’s now marginal even in right field.
Hunter won nine straight Gold Gloves between 2001 and 2009. He’s also made five All-Star appearances and has two Silver Slugger awards. He has a career line of .279/.334/.465 with 331 home runs in 18 big-league seasons.
If he does, it’ll finish quite the career. 331 HR, 2327 H, 476 2B, 1310 RBI, 1229 R, ~43 WAR, and a 111 wRC+? Sounds like a great career if he really is hanging it up.
he can hit, great veteran voice. He will find a job if he wants it
Great career if he does retire.
Of course he is, he made 14 million this year, no way he ever makes that again
He’ll be coaching somewhere in the majors before we know it. He just has one of those personalities, but I can also see him doing a little bit of commentary for MLB Network or ESPN if he so chooses.
He’s just one of those guys who can do just about anything after he retires.
I never really thought of him as the coaching type other than a special assistant during spring training. But he does seem like type that would be hired as a commentator.
Tigers need to go cheaper/younger internally unless he wants to DH if Victor doesn’t come back. Walk rate crashed, contact rate down but still a good 2nd tier DH. Good veteran lockerroom guy, but the way this team underperformed I think they are going to do a minor reset and he likely isn’t in the Tigers plans. Good work Torii, good career.
He should sign with the Cubs. They could really use a veteran player like Hunter to help raise those young cub prospects.
If the Cubs sign a veteran OF, I’d rather have them spend it on someone else, like Nick Markakis.
He could be a great option for the Yankees. He could play OF and DH but I think he should retire.
The Yanks don’t need another old part timer player.
Another ??….this joke is getting old
That was a joke?
Brian McCann – over 30. Carlos Beltran – 36. Mark Teixeira – 34. Alex Rodriguez – 40. Ichiro Suzuki – 40. This isn’t a joke. Suzuki is a free agent, and the “young guy” – Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner – are also 30+. Who’s your second baseman? Martin Prado? What about shortstop? The Yankees definitely do not need Torii Hunter. He’s Carlos Beltran. Neither can play even a scratch defensive outfield at this stage, except I’ll bet on Beltran at the plate in ’15.
It isn’t a joke.
He still has an above average bat, I wouldn’t count him out if a team wants a veteran presence. Good career though, not HOF worthy, but good. He’ll probably spend the whole 10 years on the waiting list without getting too many votes.
He won’t last all ten years; with the current logjam he’ll be lucky to last five. If Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton – two superior outfielders – got booted off in their second and first year of eligibility, respectively, and there are questions if Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa and Larry Walker will last past the 2015 ballot, Hunter has no chance. If he retired now he becomes eligible alongside Abreu and Jeter, and there will still be a possible outfielder logjam in 2020 of Larry Walker, Vladimir Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Jim Edmonds, Andruw Jones, Gary Sheffield, Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa… Griffey should make it first-ballot, and Vlad could be in by then, but it seems doubtful for anyone else. I hope I’m wrong, and that Bonds, Vlad, Walker, Griffey, and Andruw are all in, but I doubt it.
Keep in mind that Torii will most likely retire if he can’t get a contract from a contender. He’s said over and over that he went to Detroit to win the elusive World Series. I doubt he’s interested in spending his last year or two in a rebuilding project.
Still think he’d be a nice fit for the Mets. If they don’t heavily pursue Tomas or even Michael Cuddyer, Torii is a nice piece to have for many reasons. They want to play den Dekker more often then not, but Torii could still get a good chunk of playing time. He brings his knowledge to a young team hungry to win, and most importantly you can get him pretty cheap (a couple mill more than the Chris Young contract this year). I think the biggest issue will be can they get him to come to play for such an awful organization.
I don’t think Hunter will command more than 10 MM on a one-year deal, IF that. He’s really not that good anymore. His defense deteriorating makes him a huge question patrolling a corner outfield at Citi, even with Lagares in center. Granderson’s already an aging defensive liability at the other corner.
.286 17hrs, 33 doubles is really good??? That’s GOOD, even for a 25yr old. Don’t know what world you live in. How good were you in the ML’s?
.286/.319/.466 is fine offensively, but not when you’re an atrocious defensive corner outfielder. Then it becomes below average. He’s a 1-win player going forward. He isn’t an average *player*…
Praying the Braves are smart enough to sign him.
To play where, exactly? Hunter can’t handle CF anymore, and Heyward and Justin Upton are entrenched at the corners. Sliding Heyward or Upton over could work, but probably isn’t optimal. You’ve already committed serious money to replacement-level-BJ-Upton, so it’s probably better to hope he can improve a little. He was at least a smidgen above replacement level this year, and if Hunter’s offense declines at all he’s replacement level or worse.
I don’t think either Upton will be back next season.I see Heyward moving to center,Hunter could play right field
How are the Braves going to manage moving B.J. Upton?
They’ll either find a team that will do a bad contract for bad contract trade or package him in a trade of one of their young arms if the other team is will to take on a hunk of the money he’s owed
But who would want his contract? It is as bad of an albatross contract as Josh Hamilton, and no team would bother picking him up, even for a good arm, something that Atlanta cannot afford to lose right now, even to lose the weight of B.J. Upton’s contract.
It’s worse than Josh Hamilton..
They had talks with the Cubs this past season BJ for Erwin Jackson,both of them have bad contract.I would not mind BJ staying because I love his defense but he’s going to need to completely change his swing to being more of a put it in play and use your speed player
How about a return to where it all started for Tori Hunter?
The Twins actually make sense, though it would seem that Tori would rather play for a team that will help him win a ring, not one that is still in an odd rebuilding period.
The Ms and White Soxes could be a good fit if he looking for of a DH/OF role. I would be surprise if he returns to Detroit with surplus of OFs at MLB level, AAA and Moya.
If Tori still wants to play the OF he has to play in a small ballpark.
The next RF for the Texas Rangers…
Actually, seems like Choo is moving over to RF.
It does appear that way according to Evan Grant. The questions will be – Is Rios coming back back or not? Daniels has not said so yet… If not, who is picked up to play one of the corner OF spots? I would imagine the better defensive player of the two (Choo & whoever) will play LF, given that it is said to be the more difficult spot to play (bigger & sun). Let’s just hope Choo is healthy enough to play one of them (LF or RF).
Pretty sure that Daniels will decline on Rios’ 13.5 million option and just buy him out for a million (way too much money for as light hitting as Rios was for a good chunk of his tenure with the Rangers) and look either towards Engel Beltre or Rua to pick up where Choo isn’t.
I agree, I do not think the option will be picked up… But, I do think the QO will be given to Rios, in hopes of gaining another pick. That is the only reason why I think Rios was not dealt at the trade deadline. However, I still look for them to add another corner outfielder somehow (a cheaper option than Rios)… Beltre, Rua, Robertson, Choice, Adduci, Smolinski, and even Moreland are far from proven. I would really like to see more of Smolinki. His minor league numbers are not over whelming, but he sure did play well in the small glimpse we saw late in the year. But i am not interested in penciling Jake (or any other current OF) into the starting line up just yet.