DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
heard it on the way home from work tonight. 5 year deal. good signing for the halos.
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torii hunter is now an angel (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter DA RAIDERS
- Start date
Michael Brown
Footballguy
I only read the AP report...are they really going to waste Gary Matthews at DH? I would think Vlad makes a lot more sense there.
Your Mother
Footballguy
I'd imagine they'll put Vlad there...but they also traded FOR John Garland, so who knows.
5 years, $80 million
that's a lot of scratch
that's a lot of scratch
Balco
Footballguy
Wow. Not sure that is what the Angels needed at all. They could have used a power bat in the infield. They already have a very good defensive center fielder in Matthews. This is truly a head scratcher. Bad signing by the Angels, no doubt.
wilked
Footballguy
ESPN reports 90 mil
What a bad signing...this makes Drew look like a steal. Hunter is not that good...
I think his career OPS+ is barely above 100. Guy has an awful OBP. Actually, now that I think about it, he will be a perfect fit for that offense
They should have gone after Cabrera instead
What a bad signing...this makes Drew look like a steal. Hunter is not that good...
I think his career OPS+ is barely above 100. Guy has an awful OBP. Actually, now that I think about it, he will be a perfect fit for that offense
They should have gone after Cabrera instead
the moops
Footballguy
Gary Matthews Jr is not a good outfielder (defensively or offensively). Tori Hunter is a big upgrade defensively for the Angels.
Not sure I agree with how much they gave him, but the reasoning that it is wasteful because they have Matthews is flawed.
Garret Anderson should be the outfielder to get ousted, not Vlad. Although I imagine they will employ some sort of DH rotation with the 200 year old Anderson and the gimpy Vlad.
Wilked- His OBP is teribble, but he slugs fantastically for an excellent defensive center fielder. And he managaed an OPS+ of 122 last year, and a 112 the previous year.
Not sure I agree with how much they gave him, but the reasoning that it is wasteful because they have Matthews is flawed.
Garret Anderson should be the outfielder to get ousted, not Vlad. Although I imagine they will employ some sort of DH rotation with the 200 year old Anderson and the gimpy Vlad.
Wilked- His OBP is teribble, but he slugs fantastically for an excellent defensive center fielder. And he managaed an OPS+ of 122 last year, and a 112 the previous year.
snarfsnarf
Footballguy
With a surplus of starting pitchers and decent spare parts in the outfiled (Rivera, Morales), I doubt they are done in the infield.
Your Mother
Footballguy
I'm glad to have Garland in the AL West.
wilked
Footballguy
In other words, he took advantage of a career year with a big payday.Don't expect him to repeat that 122
Gopher State
Footballguy
Torii Hunter heading to Angels
By Tim Harlow and Joe Christensen, Star Tribune
During the Minnesota Twins' final homestand of the 2007 season, one fan held a sign that read "Torii, Don't leave us." Late Wednesday night, he did. Hunter, 32, confirmed today that he has agreed to a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, a deal believed to be worth $90 million, which doubled the Twins' best offer.
The deal was announced by Angels general manager Tony Reagins after midnight Twin Cities time, ending the speculation over whether Hunter would remain with the Twins.
After signing Gary Matthews Jr., to a five-year, $50 million contract last offseason, the Angels were not expected to pursue Hunter, but they swooped in Tuesday and got him to agree to the deal late Wednesday.
Hunter said he was close to a deal with the Chicago White Sox, whose best offer was for five years and about $75 million. The Texas Rangers increased their offer to six years, $84 million, hoping to keep Hunter close to his home in Prosper, Texas.
But the Angels closed their deal fast.
“These guys came and swept me off my feet,” Hunter said via cell phone Thursday morning.
The seven-time Gold Glove winner said he was stunned by the offer.
"These guys shocked me," Hunter told MLB.com. "I wanted to play with these guys. For me, they were one of the teams I was looking at, but I didn't know if they were looking at me.
"We shocked the world. Now I'm an Angel. I'm going to hopefully finish my career as a Halo, and hopefully get about three [World Series] rings out of this thing." Hunter rejected a three-year, $45 million offer from the Twins in late August, and neither side came forward with a new proposal.
Hunter said his agent, Larry Reynolds, called Twins General Manager Bill Smith last Thursday, hoping to spur discussions, but nothing came of it.
Smith said this afternoon that he read the news and called Hunter this morning to confirm that he had accepted the deal.
"And I'm extremely appreciative for everything he provided the Twins organization over the terms of the last 15 years," he said. "He has been a true professional. He's been a great player on the field. He's been great in the community. He's a tremendous person off the field, and I'm appreciative of everything he contributed to this organization, and I certainly wish him well.
Hunter also received a five-year, $75 million offer from the Kansas City Royals.
“Everybody was talking about how I couldn’t get a five-year deal,” Hunter said. “There was nothing less than a five-year deal out there. There were no four-year deals on the table. The Twins had a three-year deal. I mean, it was tough.”
But, Hunter added, “There’s no hard feelings or anything like that. I wish I could have stayed with the team that I grew up with since I was 17. I wanted to stay with them from day one, no matter what people are trying to say that I wanted to leave regardless.
“But I knew what was really going on. I just felt like the time had come.
“You feel these things. I knew that if it got to the end of the season, I was done because if you want somebody you’re not going to let it go to free agency.”
Hunter, 32, batted .287 with 28 homers and a career-high 107 runs batted in while playing 160 games for the Twins last season. He finished 15th in the AL MVP Award balloting.
Hunter was the Twins' first-round pick in 1993 out of high school and made his first Major League debut with the team in 1997 and became the team's regular center fielder in 1999.
Over the course of eight seasons, he patrolled center field and often made the highlight reel for his spectacular catches. ESPN commentators often referred to Hunter as the "Daily Web Gem" for his athletic prowess and knack for robbing opposing batters of home runs, including one in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. In that game he showed off his athletic ability when he leapt high over the wall to rob slugger Barry Bonds of a home run.
Many Twins fans felt that re-signing Hunter was a must. An unscientific poll on the Twins website www.twinsbaseball.com showed that 5, 178, or 56 percent of the 9,204 votes, believed that was the team's No. 1 priority in the off season.
With Hunter gone, the low-budget Twins' attention turns to two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana. His contract expires after the 2008 season, and other teams think Minnesota will make him available if he doesn't agree to an extension.
Ironically, the Twins open the season at home on March 31 against the Angels and Hunter likely will be in center field.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com
By Tim Harlow and Joe Christensen, Star Tribune
During the Minnesota Twins' final homestand of the 2007 season, one fan held a sign that read "Torii, Don't leave us." Late Wednesday night, he did. Hunter, 32, confirmed today that he has agreed to a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Angels, a deal believed to be worth $90 million, which doubled the Twins' best offer.
The deal was announced by Angels general manager Tony Reagins after midnight Twin Cities time, ending the speculation over whether Hunter would remain with the Twins.
After signing Gary Matthews Jr., to a five-year, $50 million contract last offseason, the Angels were not expected to pursue Hunter, but they swooped in Tuesday and got him to agree to the deal late Wednesday.
Hunter said he was close to a deal with the Chicago White Sox, whose best offer was for five years and about $75 million. The Texas Rangers increased their offer to six years, $84 million, hoping to keep Hunter close to his home in Prosper, Texas.
But the Angels closed their deal fast.
“These guys came and swept me off my feet,” Hunter said via cell phone Thursday morning.
The seven-time Gold Glove winner said he was stunned by the offer.
"These guys shocked me," Hunter told MLB.com. "I wanted to play with these guys. For me, they were one of the teams I was looking at, but I didn't know if they were looking at me.
"We shocked the world. Now I'm an Angel. I'm going to hopefully finish my career as a Halo, and hopefully get about three [World Series] rings out of this thing." Hunter rejected a three-year, $45 million offer from the Twins in late August, and neither side came forward with a new proposal.
Hunter said his agent, Larry Reynolds, called Twins General Manager Bill Smith last Thursday, hoping to spur discussions, but nothing came of it.
Smith said this afternoon that he read the news and called Hunter this morning to confirm that he had accepted the deal.
"And I'm extremely appreciative for everything he provided the Twins organization over the terms of the last 15 years," he said. "He has been a true professional. He's been a great player on the field. He's been great in the community. He's a tremendous person off the field, and I'm appreciative of everything he contributed to this organization, and I certainly wish him well.
Hunter also received a five-year, $75 million offer from the Kansas City Royals.
“Everybody was talking about how I couldn’t get a five-year deal,” Hunter said. “There was nothing less than a five-year deal out there. There were no four-year deals on the table. The Twins had a three-year deal. I mean, it was tough.”
But, Hunter added, “There’s no hard feelings or anything like that. I wish I could have stayed with the team that I grew up with since I was 17. I wanted to stay with them from day one, no matter what people are trying to say that I wanted to leave regardless.
“But I knew what was really going on. I just felt like the time had come.
“You feel these things. I knew that if it got to the end of the season, I was done because if you want somebody you’re not going to let it go to free agency.”
Hunter, 32, batted .287 with 28 homers and a career-high 107 runs batted in while playing 160 games for the Twins last season. He finished 15th in the AL MVP Award balloting.
Hunter was the Twins' first-round pick in 1993 out of high school and made his first Major League debut with the team in 1997 and became the team's regular center fielder in 1999.
Over the course of eight seasons, he patrolled center field and often made the highlight reel for his spectacular catches. ESPN commentators often referred to Hunter as the "Daily Web Gem" for his athletic prowess and knack for robbing opposing batters of home runs, including one in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee. In that game he showed off his athletic ability when he leapt high over the wall to rob slugger Barry Bonds of a home run.
Many Twins fans felt that re-signing Hunter was a must. An unscientific poll on the Twins website www.twinsbaseball.com showed that 5, 178, or 56 percent of the 9,204 votes, believed that was the team's No. 1 priority in the off season.
With Hunter gone, the low-budget Twins' attention turns to two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana. His contract expires after the 2008 season, and other teams think Minnesota will make him available if he doesn't agree to an extension.
Ironically, the Twins open the season at home on March 31 against the Angels and Hunter likely will be in center field.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
Tim Harlow • harlow@startribune.com
dirtyhalos
capital letter hater!
whoooo hooooo
also, i see mathews on a rotation between right and left to give both anderson and vlad some time at dh....price seems a bit high, but i dont see adding a player like hunter as a negative at all
also, i see mathews on a rotation between right and left to give both anderson and vlad some time at dh....price seems a bit high, but i dont see adding a player like hunter as a negative at all
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Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Not really. Matthews is actually an above average defensive OF with better range over two of the past three years. Hunter is a better outfielder IMO, but to say he is a big up[grade in center over Matthews is probably overstating things.Angels also lost their first round draft pick in this deal (27th overall). Last year they ran out and signed Matthews Jr after a 121+ OPS season and now they spend 18 million dollars a year on Hunter who has lost a step in the OF and a career OBP of .324. I don't think anyone would mind Hunter in their OF and you pretty much know what you are getting, but I think that is a lot of scratch for Hunter who will hit 30 HRs and have around a .330 OBP if he's playing at his peak. The two guys most happy about this signing have to be Aaron Rowand and Andrew Jones. Rowand is about to get a JD Drew kind of contract despite having just two good seasons in six. Whoever signs him should expect career averages over the life of the contract .286/.343/.462 which actually should be better than Hunter except for slugging.
the moops
Footballguy
2007 UZR has Matthews as the 3rd worst center fielder in the AL (-8)Fielding Bible has him as the worst center fielder in all of baseball (-26)Hunter is not the great fielder he once was. However, a slightly above average center fielder is a decent upgrade over Matthews.You would think teams would learn to not overpay for one or two career years (Gary Matthews)...but you are correct in that Aaron Rowand is going to sign a ridiculous contract based on his very good year. But at least you are getting a gold-glove center fielder when you sign him
Doctor Detroit
Please remove your headgear
Matthews had the 7th best range factor of any ML CFer. The fielding bible is ok by me as a source but traditional measures and my own two eyes tell me you can do much worse in CF than Matthews. His zone rating isn't great but neither is Ichiro's.
