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Torii Hunter

Cubs Never Called Torii

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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 appearances worth of growing pains, and the Cubs apparently want more immediate production.  PECOTA projects a robust .291/.344/.480 line from the 23 year-old this year.

Odds and Ends: Santana, Hunter

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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, so I guess we’ll see.
  • Phil Rogers doesn’t think the Cubs will re-sign Kerry Wood.  He also sees the Giants in the lead for Miguel Cabrera now.
  • My coworker Jonathan makes a good point – thought the Sox wouldn’t give four-year deals to pitchers?  They made a huge fuss over Mark Buehrle.  Suddenly Scott Linebrink is worthy of breaking the rule again?  Some are skeptical.
  • Bobby Kielty typically smacks around left-handed pitching (Brian Fuentes for example).  He’ll hook on as some team’s fourth outfielder as a free agent.  He’d like to return to Boston, but that would require a Coco Crisp trade. Rob Bradford names the Twins, Braves, Rangers, and White Sox as possibilities otherwise. 

Torii Hunter – Additional Thoughts

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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 a $14MM player seems more realistic.
  • The Twins must be pleasantly surprised – they get the Angels’ 27th overall pick next June.  All the other teams thought to be in the mix for Hunter had their first round picks protected.  The loss of the pick just accentuates how much the Halos overpaid here.

Torii Hunter Signs With Angels

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Who saw this one coming?  Now only did he sign on Thanksgiving Day, but Torii Hunter signed with the Angels.  The news broke a little after midnight.  It’s a five-year contract for $90MM.  That’s a surprising $18MM annually for those poor in math.  No one even knew the two sides were talking!  Hunter just isn’t an $18MM player to me.  I can see why he jumped on this.

The Halos now have six players for three outfield spots and one DH spot.  Hunter will always be in center, and Vlad will always be at DH or in right.  So then only two of Garret Anderson, Juan Rivera, Reggie Willits, and Gary Matthews Jr. will be in the lineup (unless someone goes to first base and knocks Casey Kotchman to the bench).

GM Tony Reagins says this doesn’t affect his other dealings, so perhaps he’s created these outfield and pitching surpluses to acquire Miguel Cabrera or Miguel Tejada.  Willits would be appealing to the Marlins, I imagine.

Odds and Ends: Fukudome, Eckstein, Lowell

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Ah yes, the odds and ends post, where I cobble together the day’s random links.

  • The Rangers have mild interest Scott Podsednik.  Pods had two separate stints in the Rangers organization but never reached the bigs with them.
  • The Big Lead has an interesting interview with Yahoo baseball guy Jeff Passan, wherein a run-in with Jose Lima is recounted.  Passan also takes on Fire Joe Morgan a bit.
  • Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog is hearing that Kosuke Fukudome is looking for three years and $30MM.  Sounds fair.
  • The Angels are considering signing David Eckstein and/or Darin Erstad, for some reason.
  • Bob Dutton reports that the Royals can be patient with their offer to Torii Hunter, while the White Sox want a quick resolution.  Bonus: a rather large, but not too pixellated picture of Hunter at the Dutton link.  Hunter, by the way, could save $750K per year if he signs with the Rangers because Texas has no state income tax.  Hunter is also considering the Las Vegas 51s for that same reason, I heard. 
  • Per Buster Olney, the Dodgers put in a three-year offer to Mike Lowell.  He takes this as a sign they weren’t serious, but Ned Colletti has shown a tendency to offer fewer years and more per year.  He did this with Rafael Furcal and Jason Schmidt.  So maybe the Dodgers put out a 3/45 offer or something.
  • The Phils picked up oft-injured outfielder Chris Snelling from the Rays for cash.  He’s yet to accumulate 100 big league at-bats in a season, but maybe that’ll change in 2008.
  • Ed Wade + relievers = trouble.  Doug Brocail is on the radar.
  • McCovey Chronicles lists some realistic position player targets for the Giants, including Jeff Clement, Andy Marte, and Adam Lind.

Hunter Receives Five Offers

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Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times, normally their Cubs guy, has the scoop on the Torii Hunter situation.

Wittenmyer says Hunter has at least five offers in hand.  Four of them are for five years, while the Rangers have offered six.  This doesn’t count the Twins’ lowball 3/45 offer.

So which five clubs have made proposals to Hunter?  The Rangers, White Sox, Dodgers, Royals, and Nationals comprise the list.  Wittenmyer notes that the Dodgers could get aggressive on Hunter if they miss out on Miguel Cabrera.  Also, the Yankees could trade Melky Cabrera and jump in.  The amounts offered aren’t well known, but Wittenmyer says the Rangers are just under $15MM per year.   

Hunter hopes to decide next week so he doesn’t have to attend the Winter Meetings the week after that.  Don’t underestimate the Royals, who blew everyone away last year by winning the bidding for Gil Meche.  Still, the White Sox and Rangers are the clear frontrunners.

Brewers Pursuing Hunter?

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We recently named the White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers as the teams in hot pursuit of free agent center fielder Torii Hunter.  However, those aren’t the only clubs after him.

Yahoo’s Jeff Passan talks of how Hunter was impressed with the Royals’ pitch.  Passan also adds the Brewers and Nationals as teams interested in Hunter.

Out of all these clubs, this is the first I’ve heard of Milwaukee being in the mix.  Perhaps if the Brewers let Francisco Cordero walk they’ll spend the money on Torii.  They could then move Bill Hall to third base and Ryan Braun to left field.

Hunter may sign by the end of next week.

Rangers, Hunter Talking Five Year Deal

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According to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, Torii Hunter denied the Chicago Sun-Times report that he would sign with the Sox this week.  The White Sox, Dodgers, and Rangers remain the major players for Hunter. 

The Rangers had dinner with Hunter last night; he’s their top priority.  Currently the two sides are talking about a five-year deal but Jon Daniels doesn’t expect anything to happen this week.

Odds and Ends: LaRue, Rogers, Hunter

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Some random rumorage before I shut it down for the evening…

Hunter, Sox Could Agree This Week

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Torii Hunter might be a White Sox before the week is out. According to Joe Cowley, "’the climate was there for a deal to be announced soon." Of course, Cowley adds that this is unless another team swoops in at the last second with a mind-boggling offer. Next to the White Sox, the Rangers are mentioned most often as Hunter’s destination. The Royals also have interest.

This report is coming from sources within both the club and Hunter’s camp. The two sides have sat down twice, with the financial package being discussed in the latter meeting. Buster Olney has mentioned a six-year, $90 million potential deal with the Rangers (or was he just speculating?).

Cowley says that this all fits in with Ken Williams’s plan to model the team after the 2005 one: pitching and defense. And while having Juan Uribe (if indeed he does move to second), Orlando Cabrera, and Torii Hunter up the middle is potentially solid for next year, they aren’t exactly flush with pitching, and losing Jon Garland doesn’t help. Mark Buehrle and Javy Vazquez will head the rotation, but after that it’s some combination of Jose Contreras, John Danks, Gavin Floyd, and possibly Gio Gonzalez.

Ah, but some people in the ChiSox organization "privately some in the organization felt that Garland had reached his ceiling in 2005 and ’06, winning 18 games in both years." Well, his walks rose and his strikeouts fell a bit in 2007 (and his home runs plummeted), but based on pure results, he had a better 2007 than 2006.

Joe Pawlikowski is co-author of River Ave. Blues.

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