Torii: Angel in the Outfield

Kirby Puckett played his last game as a Twin in 1995.
In 1996, Rich Becker hit .291/.372/.434 with 12 homers, 71 RBI and 19 SB while playing pretty good defense in CF. But Becker went back in the tank in '97, and the Twins turned to 39-year old Otis Nixon to man the spot in 1998. Nixon hit .297 and stole 37 bases, but the Twins decided they were ready to hand CF to Torii Hunter in 1999.
Hunter was a below-average hitter and fielder for two years as he tried to learn on the job, but by 2001 he had transformed himself into a power-speed guy who was without a doubt the best defensive CF the team had ever had, far better than even Puckett.

So for the next seven years we watched Torii produce something close to a .270 average with around 25 HR, 90 RBI and 20 SB. He didn't strike out a whole lot for a guy with those kind of numbers, but he also didn't put up much of an OBP, and he hit into a ton of double-plays.
For many Twins fans, Torii's offense was regarded more for what it didn't produce than what it did, as his penchant for trying to pull pitches two feet outside and grounding them to short became legendary.
But in 2007, the rest of the Twins offense was so bad, historically bad, that Hunter was now considered an elite hitter. He hit .290 with 28 HR and 107 RBI, which is very good.
But the dread that surrounds his departure is no doubt based more on the crap the Twins have left over than the actual value that is lost with Hunter.

None of which is to say Hunter won't be missed. He's on a very short list with Puckett, Scott Erickson, Chuck Knoblauch (before the Yankee debacle) and Brad Radke as my favorite all-time Twins. He was a likable guy, and he always, always played hard. At age 32, he probably is bound for a big year with the Angels, and playing on grass for a whole year will be hugely beneficial to him.
I also know I am not alone in being very happy to see Hunter not sign with the White Sox, or Royals, or Yankees, or Red Sox.

Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times had this to say about the Sox and Torii. I know it made me smile: "Consider this the latest significant setback in a bloody, 17-month Sox slide, which includes a 109-135 record since early July of 2006. This is more confirmation that a star like Hunter, who fled Minnesota with the aim of winning a championship, thinks he has a better chance of achieving those goals in Anaheim than on the South Side.
More and more, it's becoming obvious that baseball people view 2005 as an aberration for the Sox, a championship that won't happen again anytime soon. The Angels have sustained a consistently high level since their World Series triumph five years ago, primarily because they have an elite manager in Mike Scioscia and a title-driven owner in Arte Moreno. The Sox have a ditzy manager in Ozzie Guillen and an owner who likes to win but only at his price, though Reinsdorf has no problem charging top dollar at The Cell."

Sadly, that last line could be about the Twins, too.

The Twins did the right thing, here, if you can believe it. Anything more than the 3-year, $45 million the Twins offered would've been potential suicide for a team on a budget.
No one wants to be stuck paying Hunter $18 million when he's 37 years old and hitting .244 with 11 homers as a right fielder.
Which includes Angels fans, apparently.
This is from an Angel fan on the blog Obscure Sports Quarterly: "I am beyond trying to understand the Angels. Last year, they pay $50 million over 5 years to an overrated center-fielder coming off a career year (Gary Matthews). This year, they pay $90 million over five years to a slightly better overrated CF coming off of a career year. WTF? Thats $140 million of waste. And this team is still paying good money to Garrett Anderson! I’m not saying Hunter won’t be a good player for the Angels this year- he probably will. Actually, he probably makes the team a little bit better. What is frustrating to me is that if they did not have Anderson, Matthews, or Hunter, their outfield of Rivera, Willits, Guerrero would be almost just as good."

And this is from Larry Brown Sports, another blog: "Under no circumstance can I envision the Angels spending $90 million on Torii Hunter being a good deal. The reason why it caught everyone off-guard, Hunter included, is because the Angels grossly overpaid, and because Hunter probably never dreamed he would get that much. The Twins supposedly offered 3 years for $45, while the White Sox supposedly offered 5 for $75. That’s about right. I thought, and still believe, that Hunter is only worth around 5 for $65.

So what makes this deal so horrible? First of all, the Angels have set the free agent market extremely high, screwing many other teams, themselves included, for the future. Now Andruw Jones, Aaron Rowand, and Mike Cameron are probably going to cost a million or two more per year because of the Angels. When the Angels need to re-sign players, or go after other players, Hunter’s contract will be a future benchmark. If I were another GM, I’d be pissed the Angels inflated the market. When Ichiro was extended during the season this year, what’d he get? 5 years for $90 million. Sorry to say it, but Hunter is nowhere near as good as Ichiro, meaning the Angels had no business having Hunter’s contract match Ichiro’s.

Second of all, the Angels now have $130 million, and around $28 million annually allotted for two center fielders. That’s absurd. I can think of hundreds of ways to better spend $130 million. All those rumors about the Angels going after A-Rod? Even as the most expensive player in baseball at $27 million a year, pair him with any guy making the minimum and it’s still better value than Matthews plus Hunter.

Third, it’s like the Angels are just trying to appease the media. Media members say the Angels need a bat to protect Vlad in the order. Sure, sounds great. But one good bat isn’t enough to protect Vlad; they need another top 10 bat to properly protect Vlad. Hunter couldn’t even protect Morneau and Mauer. He batted behind Michael Cuddyer in Minnesota. Yet he’s supposed to protect Vlad? Give me a break. Even with $90 million on Hunter, the Angels still don’t have as good an offense as Boston, New York, Cleveland, Detroit, or probably Seattle and Toronto.

The Angels covered one mistake (Matthews) with an even bigger mistake. I seriously wonder whether or not Juan Rivera wouldn’t match Hunter’s offensive production on his own. Matthews is probably as good in center as Hunter, or at least close to it, so what are you really gaining? Now there’s a huge log jam in the outfield that will probably be sorted out by trades. But it doesn’t change that the Angels overpaid Hunter, screwing up the market. People ask me why I care, arguing that it’s not my money. Well, I am a forward thinker. If the Angels have $90 million tied up to Torii, how will they afford to re-sign Miguel Cabrera should they acquire him, and how will they re-sign Franky Rodriguez when he comes up, John Lackey when he comes up, and same with Escobar?"

Feel better? I do, but only a little.
Because the Twins, or more specifically Terry Ryan, could've avoided all of this.
They had a chance to sign Torii to an extension after 2006, but decided to just pick up his $12 option. According to the Strib, Hunter was looking for a 5-year, $65 extension at that time. So the Twins would have Torii for another four years for about $13 million a year instead of being forced to pay him for five at $18 million.
Oops.
Same deal with Johan Santana. Last year he was looking for a 5-year, $100 extension. Did Ryan really think he was going to get cheaper? The Twins just offered him a 5-year, $93 deal, but it's a year too late. While that offer would've probably been close enough to get something done then, now it's not even close. Apparently Santana is looking for more years and more money.
He will be traded.

And don't forget Justin Morneau. The Twins were close to an extension this past offseason, and they ended up not getting the deal done. After Morneau put up another 30-homer, 100-RBI season, he'll obviously be much more expensive than he would've been if the Twins had just given him what he asked for this spring.
You wonder: At what point do the Twins learn a lesson from failing to sign these guys before they play themselves into the contract stratosphere, and actually try to get pro-active?
They still have another chance with Morneau, as well as Joe Nathan and Michael Cuddyer. Hopefully Bill Smith has learned from Ryan's mistakes.

As for the near future, the Twins will try something similar to when they brought in Nixon in '98, like Kenny Lofton. They could also trade for a Coco Crisp, David DeJesus, or one of the extra OF's the Angles now have. Or maybe they'll shock the world and sign Rowand.
Hey, I can dream, right?

Torii will be missed greatly, and the Angels will be a better team in the short-term.
As for the Twins, things have only begun to get interesting.