Torii Hunter spoke with Twins president Derek Falvey last week, but the longtime Minnesota outfielder specified to Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that it was just an informal chat, and not an interview in regards to the team’s open managerial position. However, Hunter said he already has a coaching staff mostly lined up if he ever gets a chance to become a manager, and he seems open to the possibility of a return to Minnesota.
“I guess they’re slow-rolling the process right now; I’m just sitting waiting. If the opportunity presents itself, then it would be something I would look into, think long and hard about…..Now it’s about a conversation to see where they’re headed, what their thoughts are, and then I’m pretty sure they’re going to see what I want to do with the team, who I’m going to bring aboard, my staff,” Hunter said.
Hunter already surfaced as a candidate in the Angels’ managerial search before the team hired Kurt Suzuki — like Hunter, a veteran ex-player with no formal managerial/coaching experience who had been working as a special assistant in the Halos’ front office. Despite Hunter’s interest, it isn’t clear if the Twins are still considering him or any other candidates, as the team has reportedly settled on at least four finalists (Ryan Flaherty, James Rowson, Scott Servais, and Derek Shelton) in their search.
More from around the AL Central….
- Carl Willis will be back as the Guardians’ pitching coach next season, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. It will be Willis’ 16th overall season in the job, over two separate stints (2003-09, and 2018-present) in Cleveland. The widely-respected Willis is viewed as one of the key reasons the Guards have been so good at developing their pitchers into successful or even elite starters at the MLB level. There had been some speculation that Willis could be considering retirement as he approaches his 65th birthday in December, but he’ll instead continue a baseball career that has lasted for over four decades as a player and coach.
- Troy Melton was “a popular name in trade talks” for rival teams calling the Tigers prior to his big league debut in July, MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. Rather than deal Melton for a more proven pitcher at the deadline, Detroit instead relied on Melton himself to deliver, and the rookie posted a 2.76 ERA over 45 2/3 innings in the regular season and then a 5.40 ERA in 8 1/3 playoff frames. Typical of Detroit’s “pitching chaos” strategy, Melton (a starter in the minors) worked out of the bullpen in 15 of his 20 overall games in the Show. Now lined up for a full-time starting role in 2026, Melton would seem to have a good shot at winning a spot in the Tigers’ rotation.
It makes me feel old that I remember when Carl was pitching for the Reds.
It makes me feel old that he is only five years older than me. I remember him as a player as well and always thought he was quite a bit older.
Not sure if Spiderman has the makings of a good manager, but he was a very entertaining player even as a fan of division rival. The swagger makes me hope Twins hire him like former player Ozzie came back. Being outspoken and not a yes man to FO goes against hiring decisions past several years.
Seems to call his level of commitment in question if after several years of expressing the desire to manage he won’t get managerial or coaching experience.
That’s because he wants no other coaching position but the manager position. It would be nice to see him just take a hitting coach or bench coach role, but he won’t do it.
Jason Becks article this linked was all over the place, imo.
Troy melton was a former starter turned reliever.
But implies tigers figured this out all along that he would be a good conversion.
“Tigers opted for Melton over potential trades..”
Their FO praises themselves for doing so.
As Melton pitched better in relief than all the other pitchers acquired by Detroit at the trade deadline.
If they speculated that he was that good, why did they aquire SIX players around the trade deadline.
Sewald, Finnegan, Heuer, Montero, Luke Jackson, AND Morton (to convert him to relief also).
They didnt have to amp up the Melton story as much as they did.
Melton pitched in two games prior to the trade deadline. In the first, he got shelled for 6 runs in 5 innings, but looked good the last 2-3 innings. In the second game, he threw 7 shutout innings. It was only after the trade deadline that the Tigers learned to trust Melton.
They didn’t trade Melton, Clark, McGonigle, or anyone else of value in the minors, and now they are sitting at home, blowing a pretty easy shot through Seattle, Toronto, and possibly the Dodgers had they acquired a front line starter and a bat or two. Congrats, Scott Harris!
The bats supposedly on market at deadline were pretty thin. Renting slugger Suarez didn’t even do well for M’s and AZ got decent return. It was offense upgrade they clearly needed, but even then Toronto offense probably would’ve won ALCS anyhow had Tigers advanced.
I’ve got a feeling The Tigers could have gotten a useful starter during the trade deadline WITHOUT trading McGonigle, Clark or Melton….they just didn’t try hard or maybe Harris doesn’t negotiate well.
It would have been very foolish to trade Melton, Clark, or McGonigle. The current team really isn’t that good, poor hitting. These prospects are the wave that puts the Tigers into true contention. Hopefully they can pick up a pitcher and 3B for Skubal.