Isn't Nelson Cruz like one injection away from being banned for a year?  Maybe I'm thinking of someone different?

How is that any different from the guy we just gave the most free agent money in franchise history to? Or the guy who just hit a home run in his first at bat in the major leagues?

$12 million dollar idea right there.

that TR...quite the bargain shopper! He got it at a $2M discount.

that TR...quite the bargain shopper! He got it at a $2M discount.

meh, still 6 million too much.

Works every time

 

Perfect motivation for Dozier a couple

Years ago, and perfect motivation for Hunter.

 

Your welcome twins fans!

 

That's the Nelson Cruz. Part of the Biogenesis scandal. 

 

The Twins have had their share of PED guys too... this shouldn't affect their decision-making. Ryan commented a year ago that those guys have served their time. 

 

I know that we aren't supposed to get into Torii's "mentorship" in this thread but I went through 4 pages and couldn't find a more appropriate thread and I didn't want to start a new one.

 

I don't really want to argue the whole mentorship/leadership thing again.  i do want to point out this article on Matt Carpenter.  

 

As much as it is about what Torii has meant to Carpenter, it is really as much - or more - about how older players can (and do) mentor the youngsters.  There's a lot that happens that we don't see.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/05/07/matt-carpenter-cardinals-all-star-torii-hunter/70965644/

 

And this article makes it pretty clear how some ballplayers "pass it on".

 

My personal opinion... it's a huge thing. I really believe that, even if you can't put any statistics to prove that. It does matter, and he does do it well.

 

Was listening to LEN3 on Barreiro yesterday. He said after the Twins win, they select/demand a guy to do a dance off in the clubhouse, complete with lights and a smoke machine. Lavelle said there's often smoke still there when reporters get in. He said he talked to a player about it and his response was "yep, Torii's idea."

 

good story, but what in the world would make anyone do that first sentence?? 

 

Lets see now. .280 and 18 RBI with .459 SLG. Shall we compare these stats with other mashers this team has. Please Hunter is not the problem.

Yeah, might as well get rid of....

 

Oh wait, he almost hit for the cycle. Missed it by a double instead of a triple.

 

Yeah, he's done.

 

/snark

 

How is that any different from the guy we just gave the most free agent money in franchise history to? Or the guy who just hit a home run in his first at bat in the major leagues?

Well let's see, do you think that the Twins would have given Santana all of that money if they had already known that he was a cheater??  I mean look at the situation now, even if the guy is good you are adding more risk to the money you are spending.  Twins free agents need to be guys that should be reliable because they can't throw money around like the Yankees or the Dodgers,  If the Yankees get burned on a free agent they can just go get another guy, Twins are stuck with Santana now, who knows how long he's been dirty and maybe he can't come back from this the same player as the one the Twins thought they signed.  I'd bet Cruz's history played a role in everyone's mind that were thinking of going after him.

Hunter is doing a very good job, I am glad because he is one of those Twins that brought this club damn near out of extinction.  I am sure he will have some more ups and some downs, but if he can hit at about the clip he hit last year he should be a good influence in the lineup.  Defensively he will hold it together, he is not the guy he once was but neither is Mauer or a lot of other players, but my personal opinion is that he will be good for the Twins this year.

I thought about this ridiculous thread when Torii started hitting, and then again when he went 4 for 4 yesterday. I am glad to see Torii shutting up a lot of critics, if only for the time being. And getting thrown out (by a mile) trying to stretch a single is evidence that his go for it mentality is alive and well.Torii is a notoriously slow starter, but saying he is "done" is just mean. 

 

And what's more, the Twins recent hot streak may be evidence that the attitude is catching on. I give Torii his share of credit for the team's rebound. And pleeeeeese. Molitor has been around baseball a long time, and one of the first things he did was try to get #48  to come play for at least a year. So give Molly credit for knowing how to build a winning attitude on a team. He's been on a lot of them.

 

 

Hunter hits another Home run today along with a couple of singles. 

I'm on record as not really liking or understanding this signing, but I'm going to say that the Twins didn't win the last two games against the Indians in spite of Hunter now did they?

Somehow, we have to come up with a TD Thread Hall of Fame. 

 

And this thread needs to be the first inducted.  An inner circle HOFer.

 

Just to remind us all, it's baseball, and there are probabilities, possibilities, and unlikihoods.

 

But there are no guarantees.  Players sometimes don't follow the probabilites, possibilities, or unliklihoods.

Not a super fan of the signing, but the guy brings something to the table. The dude may suck defensively, but he seems to have the attention of the clubhouse and the guys seem to really relish in his being a part of this ball club.

 

As we all know his defense is shappy, but I believe that T-Hunt is helping the team despite the fact that they are lackluster in the outfield.

 

He is an important part of this team that is 5 games over .500, his leadership and being able to serve as an extra coach are unmeasurable.

 

I ride with Torii!

Torii has always been good with young players and kids.

 

Torii Hunter TV spot - YouTube

Edited May 10, 201511 yr by Highabove

Agreed. Release him. He sucks. 

The whole he sucks on defense thing is overblown. He's not great but he catches what he gets to and doesn't make mistakes.

 

He's not great but people have gone a little nuts with the criticism.

The same metrics on Fangraphs that said he was a bad RF last year seem to indicate he is so far playing average to above average defense. He might wear down as the season goes on, but they will figure that out as the season goes on.

 

Somehow, we have to come up with a TD Thread Hall of Fame. 

 

And this thread needs to be the first inducted.  An inner circle HOFer.

 

Just to remind us all, it's baseball, and there are probabilities, possibilities, and unlikihoods.

 

But there are no guarantees.  Players sometimes don't follow the probabilites, possibilities, or unliklihoods.

I will be the first one to admit I am looking like an idiot on this one, and I hope Hunter keeps this up. But let's pump the brakes a bit before we declare this the greatest signing ever, lot of season left for Hunter and the Twins, and I will be rooting for them both, however recent history and about 100 years of history tells us that it's rather unlikely that Hunter can keep up this hot streak (again I hope he does as he was one of my favorite Twins)

 

What is interesting now moving forward: If Rosario proves he is "here to stay", and Buxton keeps knocking on the door and is up in June, what do you do at OF? Specifically with Arcia/Hunter, one of those two might have to be traded, no? It's really to bad that Mauer still isn't at catcher so you could just put Vargas at 1st and let one of Arcia or Hunter DH, but it is what it is.

 

Glad the Twins are winning and good to see Hunter hitting, hopefully he can keep it up.

 

 

The whole he sucks on defense thing is overblown. He's not great but he catches what he gets to and doesn't make mistakes.

He's not great but people have gone a little nuts with the criticism.

 

The problem with his defense is he can't get to a whole lot of balls these days, if we had strike out pitchers in the rotation and pen it wouldn't matter as much, but the reality is if you have Arcia and Hunter in the same OF at the same time, you have a severe disadvantage with your OF defense. Now, maybe if you have Rosario or Hicks in LF and Buxton in CF, then you can rely on them enough where Hunter's lack of range doesn't hurt you.

I will be the first one to admit I am looking like an idiot on this one, and I hope Hunter keeps this up. But let's pump the brakes a bit before we declare this the greatest signing ever, lot of season left for Hunter and the Twins, and I will be rooting for them both, however recent history and about 100 years of history tells us that it's rather unlikely that Hunter can keep up this hot streak (again I hope he does as he was one of my favorite Twins)

 

What is interesting now moving forward: If Rosario proves he is "here to stay", and Buxton keeps knocking on the door and is up in June, what do you do at OF? Specifically with Arcia/Hunter, one of those two might have to be traded, no? It's really to bad that Mauer still isn't at catcher so you could just put Vargas at 1st and let one of Arcia or Hunter DH, but it is what it is.

 

Glad the Twins are winning and good to see Hunter hitting, hopefully he can keep it up.

I'm not calling anyone an idiot Dave.

 

Or more accurately, I'm saying we all sometimes look like idiots when the subject is baseball. I liked the Nolasco signing, and thought Kubel was a nice pickup last year.

 

That's one reason I love it.

 

The problem with his defense is he can't get to a whole lot of balls these days, if we had strike out pitchers in the rotation and pen it wouldn't matter as much, but the reality is if you have Arcia and Hunter in the same OF at the same time, you have a severe disadvantage with your OF defense. Now, maybe if you have Rosario or Hicks in LF and Buxton in CF, then you can rely on them enough where Hunter's lack of range doesn't hurt you.

The good thing about Hunter all along is that the Twins at least have an OF'er that is good at one thing (offense or defense).  There was a good chance that the Twins would have been starting another OF'er that wasn't good at anything or they would have had to trade a good asset or lock up multiple years in a 30+ yr old to get a good OF'er. 

 

I liked the Nolasco signing, and thought Kubel was a nice pickup last year.

_^Idiot.

The problem with his defense is he can't get to a whole lot of balls these days, if we had strike out pitchers in the rotation and pen it wouldn't matter as much, but the reality is if you have Arcia and Hunter in the same OF at the same time, you have a severe disadvantage with your OF defense. Now, maybe if you have Rosario or Hicks in LF and Buxton in CF, then you can rely on them enough where Hunter's lack of range doesn't hurt you.

Well he gets to more balls than Arcia does or Willingham did last year.

 

Nobody has claimed he is a Gold Glover it's simply that the criticism has been over the top. Same thing with "the greatest signing ever". Nobody is saying that. He's going to be a mediocre player for the Twins in 2015 which is fine for all the circumstances.

I'd guess that a lot more of us got a bad vibe about this signing than not. I know I did. Intelligent and sensible arguments have been presented both in favor and in opposition.

 

The only commenters that qualify to hop over to the corner and put on a dunce cap are the ones who either declared it the worst or best signing ever with no room for argument about it, and of course those who in one way or another put a dunce cap on Ryan for making an unquestionably bad decision.

Hunter is on fire right now.

 

And he'll be the first one to tell you so.

 

I think we're slowly seeing a platoon/DH type of situation develop, which is perfect. Keep his bat in the lineup and let young guys like Rosario get more reps in the outfield positions.

 

The same metrics on Fangraphs that said he was a bad RF last year seem to indicate he is so far playing average to above average defense.

Keep in mind sample size.  A one month sample of a defensive runs estimator doesn't necessarily mean anything for the full season (like any other stat really, i.e. Pelfrey's ERAs this year and last year).  It wouldn't surprise me if Hunter had a similar average to above average month by this measure during his time in Detroit too (although Fangraphs doesn't let me break down fielding stats by month, probably for the better, though).

 

That said, there is a good chance he is not as bad as he was measured overall in Detroit, and it is certainly possible that he manages to finish the season more or less average.  Just that the current month sample isn't really a good indicator of that (especially when another defensive runs estimator -- DRS -- already disagrees substantially).

Bad defense or not, he's upgrade from Kubel/Hammer last year. I think we can agree on that.

 

We all knew his defense wasn't going to be the Torii that we used to know, and that's fine. What I really hope from this signing is that all of the tricks that he learned in his gold glove days are transferred to guys like Arcia, Hicks, Buxton, Rosario, etc. as they spend time up here. Arcia in particular, who should be a far better defender than he currently is. I don't know if that will happen or not, but with defense becoming a higher premium in MLB again, having one of the better defenders to play the game in recent history giving advice to some of our guys certainly cannot hurt.