Torii Suddenly Wants Seven Years: Good Riddance
According to this article, Torii Hunter approached the Texas Rangers asking for -- get this -- a seven year deal. No wonder he thought the Twins' offer of a mere three years was unacceptable. I think most people had placed the Rangers at the top of the list of suitors for Torii's services in center field, as they're in need of a CF and Torii lives nearby ... but this sounds like a good way to alienate a GM. He's been telling everyone all year that he wants a 5 year deal (although he doesn't want to talk about it, so shhhh), and that he wants to play for the Rangers because he loves Texas, and now when he approaches Texas he asks for 7 years? To a team that's trying to get younger (like most teams are currently trying to do) and realizes that Torii's 32 years old and is coming off what is almost certainly going to be the best season of his career?
While this may well be a negotiating ploy by Hunter and his agent to push his number of years up to at least five, perhaps six ... I've decided to hope this backfires for him. I used to really like Torii, but this has become too much. What I now want to see is every team in the league deciding that he's not worth what he's asking, and his free agent value sliding precipitously due to his own two-faced actions. He'll still sign somewhere, but I think every GM in the league realizes that if he gets 5+ years and $75+ million, he'll be overpaid within 2 years and will cripple the team for the remainder of the contract. And I'm guessing that the Rangers don't want to immediately repeat the A-Rod mistake immediately after finally escaping that albatross.
Torii Hunter changed from a likable face-of-the-franchise player whom everyone rooted for to an annoying, two-timing, money grubbing jerk, and he did it in a hurry. I say good riddance.
Posted by Sean Schulte at 2007-11-17 19:05:00
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