Torii Hunter agrees to 1-year deal with Twins

Torii Hunter is returning to Minnesota. (USATSI)

As confirmed by our own Jon Heyman, the Twins and outfielder Torii Hunter agreed to a one-year contract worth $10.5 million on Tuesday. He had been connected to several teams, including the Rangers and Royals, but opted to return to Minnesota.

For Hunter, this is a heart over head move. He’s following his heart and returning to the team that originally drafted and developed him, the club he spent the first 11 years of his career with before heading elsewhere as a free agent. This is Ken Griffey Jr. returning to the Mariners.

Had Hunter followed his head, he’d have signed with a contender. He’s never played in the World Series, and at age 39 he won’t have many more opportunities to win a ring. The Twins are very bad and it’ll take a minor miracle for them to be not bad in 2015, so that ring won’t come in Minnesota.

And you know what? Good for Torii. Very few players get to play out the end of their careers on their terms. He had his pick of teams and decided to go back to Minnesota. That’s what he wanted to do and it’s what will make him most happy. Good for him. Not enough players get to do that.

So now Hunter will play mentor to young Twins players like Oswaldo Arcia and Danny Santana, maybe Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano depending how the summer goes. Buy the rookies suits, pay for dinner, the whole nine. Maybe he’ll give Lester Oliveros a nice watch in exchange for his old No. 48 too.

On the field, the signing doesn’t make much sense for the Twins and Hunter. Not at all. Minnesota needs a stopgap outfielder and can find one at a much lower price. Hunter won’t get a chance to play in his first World Series in 2015. It’s an odd fit.

But the signing isn’t about on-field value. This is about Hunter being happy and about the Twins bringing back a fan favorite for what is likely the final stage of his career. And you know what? That is pretty darn cool. It doesn’t happen often enough in this ultra-competitive era of MLB.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.