The Indians have signed righty-handed reliever Tommy Hunter to a one-year deal worth $2MM, per a club announcement and report from Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). To clear roster space, the club designated catcher Tony Wolters for assignment.
Hunter, 29, has been a fairly steady performer since moving over from the rotation. He wasn’t able to hold onto a closing gig with the Orioles, but still managed a strong 2.88 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9 over 147 innings in 2013-14. Heading into last year, he seemed to represent an important piece of the O’s pen picture.
It turned out to be something of an odd 2015 campaign for the right-hander. He wasn’t trusted with many important situations in Baltimore — only 15 of his 39 appearances were in games the team ended up winning — and was sent out at the deadline by the still-contending O’s for a player who didn’t even see much action.
Of course, Hunter was much the same pitcher in his last 44 2/3 innings with the Orioles that he had been previously, carrying a 3.63 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. He improved in the K:BB department upon moving to Chicago, racking up 15 strikeouts against just four walks over 15 2/3 frames, but also was touched for twenty hits (including four long balls) in that span.
All told, Cleveland looks to have made a solid addition to its pen by adding Hunter. He is said to be about a month behind schedule with camp approaching, though, having undergone offseason core muscle surgery. That could help explain why he wasn’t able to secure a larger and/or longer contract.
Wolters, 23, is a rare breed: he converted from the middle infield to catcher and still sees a bit of time at short and second. he played last year at Double-A, putting up a .209/.290/.280 slash with two home runs and three steals over 271 plate appearances. The former third-round pick obviously has some work to do at the plate in order to bring his interesting defensive skillset to the majors.
Good signing for the Indians, thought he was headed to Tampa. Wolters DFA is no surprise, been injured ever since the move from 2B to catcher. Hunter makes a solid addition & takes pressure off McCallister in his second year of relief.
Wondering why Hunter would elect a one year deal with the Indians (a lot of articles I read stated he was looking for a multi-year gig) when the Rays have a pretty glaring need for an 8th inning guy and a very established pitching coach in Hickey. Oh well.
He has some family in Northeast Ohio that I know, though I do not know Hunter personally
Rays have extra OF’ers and may have a deal for someone else they want more?
dont know why he choose a weak cleveland team instead of joining the rays but whatever
A weak Cleveland team? Really? FanGraphs currently has the Indians ahead of the Rays. The bottom line: Hunter has a better chance of being in the playoffs with the Tribe than with the Rays. A good call on his part.
Agreed, not an Indians fan but just a baseball realist and I can’t stand people with ignorant bias. Good fit for Hunter, I can even see him carving out a niche in the back end of the pen with Shaw, Allen and McCalister. That to go along with a top 3 rotation in baseball is where their bread is going to be buttered. Exciting young bunch of arms.
We clearly need more hitting. I fear that the ultimate decision will be which we want more: a World Series or Bradley Zimmer and/or Clint Frazier. Perhaps the Todd Frazier deal shows which side the Tribe front office is on. To be sure, I don’t think I would have given up either one for a year of Todd Frazier, either, but I wonder if they will pull the trigger if one of the longer signed top 3B come on the market at the trade deadline.
yeah indains can get into the playoffs over the royals and tigers lol
Well…..yes.
fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=ALL&t…
fangraphs is always wrong with projections you know that right?
tigers are no better than when they started the season last year. essentially they replaced cespedes with upton and david price with ryan zimmerman. that starting rotation is still highly suspect along with their pen, despite their additions. the line up is another year older, and banking on victor martinez to bounce back is not gonna happen.
when news came out that vmart was going to be ready opening day last year after his torn medial meniscus surgery, it was clear he would never be the same. with the shorter recovery time, the surgeon deemed the torn part of the meniscus to be irreparable, which means they just cut the cartilage out instead of attempting to repair it (which would have required a longer recovery time). and as predicted by me, he was dreadful from the left side of the plate last year after his surgery. as an indians fan, i still really like vmart and wish him the best, but i just don’t see him rebounding.
Don’t you mean Jordan Zimmermann how about watching baseball once awhile the tigers improved a lot from last year
yeah, my bad, wrong zimmerman. clearly you are the one who doesn’t watch the games claiming the rays are are a stronger team than cleveland. please tell me how this detroit team is better than what they started with last year. replacing cespedes with upton is basically a wash, as explained before, vmart cannot be counted on. verlander and anibal are still major question marks, and they downgraded with zimmerman replacing price as their ace and the pen is still suspect.
instead of making unsubstantiated claims about how much better they are, how about you give an actual argument on why. otherwise you might as well go argue with a 2 year old going back in forth with “you’re stupid”… “no, you’re stupid”, “nuh uh”…”uh huh”
Maybe the Indians offered more money?
I know some relatives he has in Northeast Ohio, though I personally have not met Hunter himself
hahahaha, better team?
starting rotation:
kluber, carrasco, salazar, bauer, tomlin/anderson > archer, cobb, odorizzi, smyly, moore, ?
and cobb is coming back from tj surgery
pen:
indians (even without hunter) >> rays (especially after trading mcgee)
lineup:
indians ~ rays
2015 indians > 2015 rays, but losing brantley for a bit and rays getting dickerson evens it out
so if hunter was looking for a stronger team, how exactly are the rays a better choice over the indians?
Good deal for the Tribe…minimal dollars for a pitcher that has a very good K to walk ratio and has had decent years the last two years
Wasn’t very good in limited work in Chicago. Left off playoff roster.
Rays dropped the ball on this one 2mill was a good deal
Is Wolters the only player in pro ball who can call themselves a C/SS?