Hunter's still a Twin

• tori is a vet and the twins need that in the lockeroom and on the field.their is a lot of young talent witch is good for the future. the only thing that stop us this is the lefty ACE going down and rush him back to soon. if i were manager i would have saved him for one or two innings in game three on the A,s match up

• Well, Let's go then. IS there any room for optimism, yet. Vin Baker? Mike Jame? Randy Foye?, Craig Smith? Does anyone have any insight? I am not too optimistic about any of the returning players. THe only way the team returns to one of the dominant teams in the West is if Randy Foye develops into an all-star caliber player this year and Craig Smith breaks into the starting line-up and dominates the paint. In this scenario, both Ricky Davis and Mark Blount are relegated to the bench. I don't like alll these SF/SG on the roster. Especially with Mccants coming back. So, I still am hoping for a trade. There are not enough minutes to get Marko/Trenton and Ricky D. I think Hudson gets established as the back-up PG or he doesn't play at all. We can't trade him and we can't afford to use up a roster spot on him when McCants comes back. I hope Mad Dog gets limited minutes and is not used as the backup when Blount isn't in there. SImply b/c we can't afford to have Blount in there too much and MadDog at center is too much of a liability to use more than 10 minutes per game. I still see Marko and Trenton as the same player and neither brings anything that strikes fear in an opposing team. Justin Reed is a nice player, but there is nothing there to convince you he can provide the Wolves with anything special they can rely on night in and night out. And Vin Baker? He could be a nice guy in the locker room and as a supporting player to KG, but if he is ever in the starting line-up we are in trouble. Finally, I am tired of waiting to see if EG can play up to his potential. I would have cut him when he got his DUI. He doesn't have his head on right. The focus is not there. Maybe he turns things around this year, but I'm not betting on it. They need a eight to nine player rotation. James/Foye/Garnett/Griffen/Smith Starting Thud/RD/Trenko/Blount off the bench. Either Marko or Trenton sits - take your pick. Maddog and Baker stay on the end of the bench. Reed doesn't play unless Smith proves he is not NBA ready. IF KG's knees limit his game we can forget everything.

• Moroni- AGREED! I sent him an e-mail last week and got no response. The only thing I can figure is that he's working feverishly on his big season preview article(s) and doesn't want to steal his own thunder with a blog entry ...

• Seriously, what's the deal with Robson? Can we get a Twolves thread going or what?

• Ironically - just the other day they were playing the 10 best "hits" of the past 10 years on FSN, and the first was Torii running over the White Sox catcher three years ago. WOW.

• Right on my fellow Andy, I am amazed how easily we have adjusted to being pragmatic sports fans and not getting emotionally attached to certain players. The Twins way is to develop players and then allow them to move on when they reach the a level where they might command a salary that is beyond what our market can afford. This is smart business and it is necessary for a small market, if it wishes to stay competitive. However, there are some players that may provide a certain identity to the team. You don't trade or let a Kent Hrbek or Kirby Puckett go to another team. They were Twins - through and through. Harmon Killebrew, Tony Olivia. WE shouldn't have let Killer go to KC and Rod Carew should not have been an angel. All right, is Tori that type of player. Maybe not. But, he has been part of a very successful run of Twins Playoff teams. He is the one constant from the old set of players (Doug M, Koskie, Eddie G., Latroy, AJ, Jones, Lawton) and the new set of players we have now along with Radke and Santana. If Radke wanted to come back, I would favor working out a contract with him, too. But, Radke is clearly past his prime. Hunter is currently in his. I support picking up his option and taking care of the other important business decisions the Twins have to take care of. Then, I would sit down with Tori and ask him what it would take to keep him here in Minnesota for another 3 to 5 years. I agree that Torri should remain in Center Field until his wheels fall off. He is a leader and an example of what it means to be a player on the Minnesota Twins. He was passed the torch from Kirby and is not quite ready to pass it along to Mauer and Morneau. Neither are they mature enough to take it. Someday they will be. But for now, Torii is the identity of the Twins. His hustle and his leadership.

• My wish is the Twins figure out a way that makes sense to both sides, to make a long term incentive laced contract that keeps Torii around till the wheels come off. It would be a testament to both sides to keep Torii in a Twins uniform his entire career. He also has spunk. I think Cuddyer and Morneau have a tendency to brood and get in funks. Torii will put up a fight, and play hurt, ie he's a real leader.

• it was said by a strib writer - not sure which one - that this is a safe gamble in that, if Hunter comes close to this past season's productivity and the Twins are in the playoff race, the 12 million, one-year deal is worth it. But, if the Twins are looking sad near the trading deadline, they can get some prospects and dump half of Hunter's salary. Also, I agree that natural grass is the way to go for Mr. Hunter. I'm glad he's still a Twin, but, for his sake, I hope he gets to a grassy, home field for a few seasons after 2007 (just not in the Central). Yo, Tom Moore Minneapolis ps. oh, and to the person who recommended renegotiating for a three year deal: Hunter's income prospects are much better off with either the 2M buyout (and then signing multi-year with the top bidder) or the 12M one-year deal than with giving up either one for a multi-year deal with the Twins.

• He hit thirty-one home runs. Thirty-one. If morneau hadn't also surpassed thirty homeruns everybody would be on the Torii bandwagon. C'mon, Twins fans should rejoice. We have multiple thirty homerun hitters coming back next year. Who cares about the money? They aren't going to lower ticket prices or give fans a rebate so I say spend spend spend. And Really, I think Mr. Terry Ryan is much too smart to be influenced by the media.

• IMO, no, but whatever. I like Dean's point about keeping Hunter for a second contract year in a row. It's debatable whether major league players really do try to put up big numbers during the last year of their contracts, but Torii certainly did this year. I'd chalk it up to the division race instead, but here's hoping Hunter finds himself in that position next year, too. I don't see the Twins trading him next year (unless the season's a bust), nor do I see Hunter hitting 31 homeruns again or getting his contract extended. One more year should be plenty of time to find the heir to the centerfield throne--and by god, I hope it's not Denard Span.

• Keeping Hunter is good. Keeping him at $12mil ... well, I'd like to know what the other options were. Could his contract have been voided and replaced with a 4-year, $28 million deal? Saying he "lost his defensive brilliance" might be an over-statement. Did his defense take a step back this year? Yes. Did he still make dozens of plays most MLB outfielders couldn't have made? IMO, yes.

• Blame the media and Souhan in particular for picking up Hunter's option? That has to be the most hilarious thing I've ever read. Obviously Demko is being ironic and taking the "blame the media" to the most absurd stretches bordering on ludicrous so as to finally put to rest the most overused cliche in sports and politics in the past century. Blame the media for Ryan picking up Hunters option! --Thanks for the laugh this morning, Demko! Now, I'll just have to clean up this coffee I spit all over my monitor.

• Man tough crowd. Unfortunately for Carl's wallet, these days a .275, 31 hr, 98 rbi 10 year veteran CFer gets $12 million a year - regardless of his defensive skills. What options did the Twins have? Send TH packing for his $2 million buyout and hope that Denard Spain (sp?) can put up Cuddy numbers? The extension gives the best outcome the Twins could expect: A happy TH who again is in a contract year; another year to get a minor leaguer (Spain or not) time to ripen into a major leaguer; and the opportunity to work with TH on a new contract in the $6-$8 million/year range with the understanding that he'll probably have to move to LF in the near future. If you can't get him to agree to those terms, sure let him look for his riches elsewhere -- next year.

• The other point in support of picking up the option, but not extending, is Hunter's ankle. There was a ton of talk while Torii was on the DL that the carpet in the dome is only going to further affect the ankle injury and Hunter's performance. He shouldn't continue playing in the dome for more than a season or two for the benefit of both the Twinks and himself. However, dropping the fan favorite -- Hunter got as much applause at the Gopher v. Michigan football game as the Gophers -- because of injury, like Demko says, isn't a PR move that the Twinks would ever want to make.

• It's good that they picked up the option--now they can deal him for some real, truly hungry offensive players who aren't afraid of October.

• Brauer's absolutely right. We can blame the media, and Souhan in particular, for this squandered $12 million. The relentless, gaseous fawning over Hunter this year has been absurd. The Twins were painted into a corner. They fail to give Hunter the $12 million and Souhan and the rest of Torrii's sycophants in the media bash them all off season for being tight-wads who are ungrateful that the public is finally building them a stadium. So the Twins caved and are going to give up nearly 20 percent of the team's payroll for a good player in the twilight of his career.

• Now Jim Souhan can finally excrete that six months of constipation he built up stressing about Torii; he wrote, what, 15 columns this year imploring the Twins to pick up Hunter's option or extend him? Pick up the option; fine. Hunter's not a $12 million player but with the Twins can swing it in an offseason when they're dumping $24 million in salary. (Yeah, the young guys will be pricey, but even with jumps, not so much this year.) Extend him? No way. Hunter has given his heart, soul, and ankle bones for the Twins, but he's been compensated fairly and the Twins don't win by hanging on to 30-plus players on the downstroke, especially when they want Damon-like contracts. It'll be nice to see him next year, though.

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