A Torii Hunter Puff Piece

I just read an article by Jeff Passan over at Yahoo! Sports about Torii Hunter. Hunter continues to come off as someone who's all about the money, despite continually saying that's not what he cares about.

It reads like a puff piece, where Passan is clearly trying to stroke Torii's ego or even drive up interest in him among fans around the country. He name drops several teams, including the Dodgers, Royals, White Sox, Rangers, and Brewers. If you believe Hunter, each one of them is near the top of his consideration, whereas the Minnesota Twins, whom he loves, are out of the running. I get the impression from this article, as well as from the past several months of listening to Hunter, that not only will he not give the Twins a hometown discount, he's more inclined to demand more money to stay in Minnesota than to leave.

If you have a big heart and want to believe Hunter, try to balance the following two statements:


"Then I look at Kansas City. They have a plan. I think they're a year away. They might do it this year. What I heard from the Kansas City Royals was impressive."

"Is losing really worth an extra $10 million? I want to know: Does the
team have good character? Do they have fun and crack jokes no matter
what?"
So he thinks the Royals have a shot, if not this year, then next year. And he values a good clubhouse over the extra money. Unless there's something Torii's keeping to himself about the Twins' clubhouse, that just doesn't make sense. And when was the last time Torii kept anything to himself?

Another thing that makes this article seem like little more than public relations fluff:
The contract offers are coming in to Hunter's agent, Larry Reynolds.
Teams understand what they're getting: 25 home runs, about 100 RBIs, a
paltry on-base percentage, dynamic fielding and one of the great
clubhouse influences – for blacks, whites and Latinos, young and old –
in the game.
That's right, Passan is attempting to maintain the myth that Hunter is a great clubhouse influence, not only on fellow black athletes, but also for white and Latino athletes. This is despite the fact that Hunter came out in support of Sheffield's comments that Latino players are only in the league because they're easier to control than black players, his public stance that only black players should be allowed to wear 42 on Jackie Robinson day, and repeatedly calling out Joe Mauer (an unusually tall catcher) for getting injured while turning around and complimenting Rondell White (a bench player) for battling hard to come back from a twisted ankle after just 5 months. Oh yes. Hunter is clearly color blind, and a great influence on non-black players.

At this point in Hunter's career, I'd have to agree with the article's conclusion. He'll probably end up about quarter the player A-Rod is, contract-wise. And as he's repeatedly proven over the last 12 months, he's about a quarter the person A-Rod is, too. Torii, it's time to go.

Posted by Sean Schulte at 2007-11-19 19:52:24

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