Torii Hunter will return to where it all began. On Tuesday night the free-agent outfielder signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins. The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired an outfielder of their own in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.
Minnesota selected Hunter with the 20th overall pick in the 1993 MLB June Amateur Draft. The veteran came right out of Pine Bluff High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. After 11 seasons with the Twins, Hunter spent seven years away from Minnesota with the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers. The 39-year-old is now coming back to the team that drafted him on a one-year, $10.5 million contract.
Hunter is expected to fill a void in the outfield for the Twins after a number of American League teams were looking for him to do the same. The five-time All-Star has nine Gold Glove awards, two Silver Slugger awards, and owns a career stat line of .279/.334/.465. He's excited to be back with the team he helped win four division titles in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. This time around, he thinks Minnesota has a promising squad despite losing at least 92 games in each of the past four seasons.
"In 2002, our team wasn't as talented as the team they have today,'' Hunter told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "We had the mentality and the attitude to go out and fight you every day. We were heartless, and we played together. They have the talent. They just need that fight, that willingness and that hunger. I think they can win next year.''
The Los Angeles Dodgers don't have any voids in the outfield, but they executed yet another trade this offseason with the Cincinnati Reds and acquired Chris Heisey. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has played five seasons with the Reds and compiled a stat line of .247/.299/.422 with 50 home runs and 147 RBIs in 543 games. Heisey is under club control until 2017 as he enters his second year of arbitration eligibility.
Dodgers' president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman sent starter Matt Magill to the Reds in exchange for Heisey. The 25-year-old right-hander made six career starts with the Dodgers (all last season) and has an 0-2 record with a 6.51 ERA and 1.988 WHIP. Magill saw his numbers drop in Triple-A Albuquerque from 2013 to 2014 perhaps because he was shifted to a reliever role last season. In 2013 he compiled a 6-2 record with a 3.47 ERA in 18 appearances (16 starts) and in 2014 he dropped to a 7-6 record with a 5.21 ERA in 36 appearances (12 starts).
Four of the Reds' five starters will be free agents after the 2015 season, so perhaps they're planning for the future.
