May 3, 201511 yr This entire thread is based on frustration. Hunter will be done, when he no longer hits or is unable to play the OF due to injury. Then Molitor will tell us all that he is done by NOT playing him. Until then, we can enjoy his clutch hitting in the 2 spot.
May 3, 201511 yr Any discussion of Torii Hunter's value to this team needs to begin with the phrase "At the plate..." Just like it's assumed that every post on TD is preceded by the phrase "It is my humble opinion that..."
May 3, 201511 yr I always thought--wishfully--that the Hunter signing was about five months (March-July) of playing and mentoring before he would be dealt to a contender who wanted a RH bat for the stretch run and playoffs. Given that, I wasn't overly dismayed with the signing. Failing that, yikes. I still am going to predict that it will happen (the Yankees are going to get injured, whether it is A-Rod or Young, or Beltran, or Ellsbury, or Teixeira).
May 3, 201511 yr You might have spoken a tad too soon! http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_28038242/torii-hunters-twitter-defense-floyd-mayweather-draws-fire?source=hottopicswell crap!
May 3, 201511 yr This entire thread is based on frustration. Hunter will be done, when he no longer hits or is unable to play the OF due to injury. Then Molitor will tell us all that he is done by NOT playing him. Until then, we can enjoy his clutch hitting in the 2 spot. what alternatives doesMolitor have now? Molitor benching or DHing Hunter is more an indication of the quality of alternative options.
May 3, 201511 yr hunter sucking not his Fault? Absolutely correct, it's Terry Ryan's fault. Everyone who watched baseball in 2013-14 knew that Hunter was done.cutting Hunter won't help this team in 2015? maybe. Or Maybe cutting Hunter brings up Rosario who figures out major league pitching and becomes a stud for years to come. This team obviously can't keep fielding Arcia and Hunter in the same outfield, and the sad part is the guy who needs the reps in the outfield to improve is getting the "rest"As far as the conservatism goes, I just wish he'd keep his views to himself, no matter which side of the argument he was on. I want to watch good baseball, not poor baseball and political stumping. Luckily I havent heard mr Hunter express his views on non-baseball related subjects lately.Maybe the Twins inserted a clause in his contract to obtain approval before making public statements? That would not have been an unreasonable clause. Playing Hunter? Well, it's not like the organization was generous in providing "options" to play the OF, as opposed to all of the options provided for starting pitching. Edited May 3, 201511 yr by Kwak
May 3, 201511 yr Maybe the Twins inserted a clause in his contract to obtain approval before making public statements? That would not have been an unreasonable clause.id imagine, if he had it, it's broken with the link Platoon provided Edited May 3, 201511 yr by Sconnie
May 3, 201511 yr Playing Hunter? Well, it's not like the organization was generous in providing "options" to play the OF, as opposed to all of the options provided for starting pitching.nailed it. The contingency plan for Hunter was Schaffer/Robinson/Hicks or a AAA player with all of 1 game at AAA and a 50 game suspension last year. Not exactly ideal Edited May 3, 201511 yr by Sconnie
May 4, 201511 yr Rosario got pushed by the Twins to AAA, after he only spent half a season in AA and hadn't mastered it yet. Watch to see if he gets it going as the weather warms up. Hicks hasn't played poorly, going into last night's game, he's ranked 7th in the IL among all OFers in wRC+ and 8th in OPS. Buxton is definitely making some noise in Chattanooga that he might soon be ready.... What's your point? All three played very poorly to start the season. Now they are starting to heat up which is exactly my point. They needed extra reps in AA and AAA.
May 4, 201511 yr Nope. That would be Shane Robinson, both with the stick and the glove. And it is not even close.Robinson, hot start aside, probably got unfairly dinged by association with Schafer in evaluations this spring. From an earlier post of mine: Fuld: 87 wRC+, 13.1 UZR/150 (8.4 in CF), 2.1 fWAR per 500 PASchafer: 71 wRC+, -3.9 UZR/150 (-5.4 in CF), 0.1 fWAR per 500 PARobinson 2012-2013: 86 wRC+, 15.9 UZR/150 (13.2 in CF), 2.3 fWAR per 500 PA Now, that's the smallest sample of the three players, and excludes about 100 PA spread across 3 seasons of poor performance, but Robinson at least gave the potential of being an excellent CF defensively and an adequate 4th OF overall, something that was not suggested by Schafer's record, even after his solid 2 months with the Twins in 2014. Robinson also has a lower salary, twice the remaining team control as Schafer, and has a much more plausible case for simply being forced out of a crowded quality outfield with his previous team.
May 4, 201511 yr L well crap!Leave Hunters tweets alone. He was not supporting domestic violence. He was saying that the man can box. What Mayweather does outside the ring is his own business.
May 4, 201511 yr L What Mayweather does outside the ring is his own business. I wouldn't say that especially if it rises to the level of a crime (and that handwritten note from his son was chilling) but I don't think Hunter was supporting Domestic Violence. I'm opposed to boxing in general because for the most part, I think you have to have a vicious mentality to succeed. And Mayweather got paid very, very well for that.
May 4, 201511 yr What Mayweather does outside the ring is his own business. How does this comment square with Hunter's vocal opposition to gays?
May 4, 201511 yr L Leave Hunters tweets alone. He was not supporting domestic violence. He was saying that the man can box. What Mayweather does outside the ring is his own business.Hunter needs to talk about baseball. Leave the politics to politicians
May 5, 201511 yr Don't look now, but Torii might not be as done as some thought. He has an .819 OPS since Apr 15. Phil Hughes appreciated the HR tonight no doubt. Edited May 5, 201511 yr by Physics Guy
May 5, 201511 yr Stick a fork in Phil Hughes, he's done. This is why we don't overreact to a few weeks of play. I'm hardly the biggest advocate of the Hunter signing but the guy deserves more than a few weeks to get into the flow of the game. If a one-year contract to a vet is your biggest issue of the season, I think the front office did a pretty good job... Personally, I have far more issues with the thought process that led to the Opening Day bullpen than I am Hunter. It's a one-year deal by a team who has Aaron Hicks, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, and Oswaldo Arcia in the organization. It wasn't nearly as dumb a move as some around here like to paint it.
May 5, 201511 yr Author Stick a fork in Phil Hughes, he's done. This is why we don't overreact to a few weeks of play. I'm hardly the biggest advocate of the Hunter signing but the guy deserves more than a few weeks to get into the flow of the game. If a one-year contract to a vet is your biggest issue of the season, I think the front office did a pretty good job... Personally, I have far more issues with the thought process that led to the Opening Day bullpen than I am Hunter. It's a one-year deal by a team who has Aaron Hicks, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, and Oswaldo Arcia in the organization. It wasn't nearly as dumb a move as some around here like to paint it.His defense is atrocious and it isn't going to get any better, is it great that he is hitting better? Of course, but he needs to keep it up at a .800 ops pace to even make up for his worst in baseball defense. FWIW his ops + is still only a 90 which is bad, and his WAR currently sits at -0.7. Make no mistake the twins overall are winning games in spite of hunter.
May 5, 201511 yr Fangraphs has his WAR at 0.2. Torii Hunter is not killing the Twins right now. His 2014 WAR was 2.7, a pretty good number for a middling position player (and his OPS was .765, not .800). The Torii Hunter signing was not terrible. I didn't like it because he's a defensive liability on a team that can't miss bats but as a one-year stop-gap, it's not awful. Not my preferred move but not one that will make or break the team.
May 5, 201511 yr Fangraphs has his WAR at 0.2. Torii Hunter is not killing the Twins right now. His 2014 WAR was 2.7, a pretty good number for a middling position player (and his OPS was .765, not .800). The Torii Hunter signing was not terrible. I didn't like it because he's a defensive liability on a team that can't miss bats but as a one-year stop-gap, it's not awful. Not my preferred move but not one that will make or break the team.Hunter's WAR was NOT 2.7 in 2014. It was 0.0 Edited May 5, 201511 yr by jimmer
May 5, 201511 yr I'm just glad he caught Billy Butler's short fly ball in the 9th without herniating anything
May 5, 201511 yr Author Fangraphs has his WAR at 0.2. Torii Hunter is not killing the Twins right now. His 2014 WAR was 2.7, a pretty good number for a middling position player (and his OPS was .765, not .800). The Torii Hunter signing was not terrible. I didn't like it because he's a defensive liability on a team that can't miss bats but as a one-year stop-gap, it's not awful. Not my preferred move but not one that will make or break the team.Well when you are making up imaginary stats I can see why you wouldn't think this was a bad move. His WAR as I mentioned in one of the first posts in this thread was 0.0 in 2014
May 5, 201511 yr Well when you are making up imaginary stats I can see why you wouldn't think this was a bad move. His WAR as I mentioned in one of the first posts in this thread was 0.0 in 2014Yeah, Brock just misread the year he pulled those stats from, he wasn't 'making up imaginary stats'. Honest mistake which has already been pointed out.
May 5, 201511 yr His defense is atrocious and it isn't going to get any better, is it great that he is hitting better? Of course, but he needs to keep it up at a .800 ops pace to even make up for his worst in baseball defense.FWIW his ops + is still only a 90 which is bad, and his WAR currently sits at -0.7.Make no mistake the twins overall are winning games in spite of hunter. I'm getting so darned confused. A few days ago I was digesting the fact that the Twins were losing games because of Hunter. Now I'm hearing a contradictory fact that they're winning games in spite of Hunter. I agree with Brock. Given the coming transition to Buxton, Rosario, Arcia, and perhaps Hicks, and the overwhelming likelihood that Hunter is replaced no later than next spring and probably earlier, this is a problem that has an eventual solution and that is hardly a devastating one. Hell, I'm going to concentrate my disgust on how terrible Boyer is. Edited May 5, 201511 yr by birdwatcher
May 5, 201511 yr Hell, I'm going to concentrate my disgust on how terrible Boyer is. Now that's something to which we can ALL gravitate! #UNITY
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