Jeff: Twins Extend Hunter for $12 Million

Your Hometown 9, those fiesty, pesky, pirahnas, the scrappy, gutty Little-Engine-That-Could have picked up the $12 million option on centerfielder Torii Hunter's deal that will keep him in Minnesota for 2007. As Strib baseball scribe La Velle E. Neal explains according to the language in the deal, Twins GM Terry Ryan had 5 days from the end of the Twins season to exercise option, and he chose to do so. Both sides may come to an agreement on a long-term deal over the winter, but we now know Hunter will be roaming centerfield under the big white plastic bag for at least one more summer.

My take? Ahem, I'll need a moment here...to remove my rather large foot from my rather large mouth...hold on...it's WAY in there...in the meantime don't forget to check out the Fire Glen Mason site...ok almost got it...WHEW! There it is! Hey thanks for your patience. Still a piece of shoelace down there but I'll tough it out.

Ok then, this was a move Terry Ryan had to make. Had to. I've been Hunter's biggest detractor since I found out late last year that this $12 million option was a possibility for 2007. I just didn't see the point in overpaying a 31-year-old centerfielder who's a .268 lifetime hitter that had never hit 30 HR's in a season. I especially didn't see a point in overpaying for a team with Carl Scrooge Pohlad calling the shots. When you've got a very limited budget (Pohlad's one of the richest men in baseball with a team in a top 15 market, yet the payroll is not in the top 15. I'll keep mentioning this as long as I have to), it might not be wise to overspend on a #6 or 7 hitter in your order who's calling card, his defense, is going to start to slip as he approaches his mid-30's. I still think he's overpaid, but it was a move Ryan had to make. Torii's loved in the clubhouse and in the community, he busts his ass every day he's out there, and although his defensive skills will start to slide as gets older, he's still an excellent outfielder and nobody knows the, shall we say, "intricacies" of playing the outfield in the quirky Metrodome.

It helps that he had a career year at the age of 31, which to some makes this extension a no-brainer. Here's his 2006 stats compared to his career #'s:
AVG/OBP/SLG HR/RBI/R
2006 .278/.336/.490 31/98/86
career .269/.323/.463 21/76/72

As you can see, his numbers are up across the board, and his HR/RBI/Runs totals are WAY up! Unless you're a lefthanded-hitting outfielder in the Bay Area who magically gains 30 pounds of muscle and an increase of like 8 inches in your hat size, you're not going to get better as you get into your 30's. Torii's much more likely to regress closer to his career averages next year than hit 30 HR's and hit over .275 again. As a matter of fact I'm willing to bet on it:

Torii WILL NOT hit 30 HR's AND hit over .275 again next year!!!! Write it down!

All of this isn't to make myself feel better for saying all along they shouldn't sign him to a big extension (ok maybe a little bit), it's just to say that Terry Ryan didn't give him the extension just because of his numbers. THey certainly helped, but Ryan knows what he's got in Hunter, and the team and players know, which is why he's coming back. Keeping this nucleus together is important, and although Torii's overpaid for an aging #6 or #7 hitter, he'll probably look like a bargain compared to what Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee will get in free agency this year.

I'll delve further into the Twins offseason in the next few weeks, but for now, this was a good move by the Twins. I just hope they don't stop here in looking for more hitting. Now if you excuse me, I have to go dislodge that shoelace.