There have been rumblings from the Twins’ front office for some time that Torii Hunter and his agent, Larry Reynolds, were keeping the team at arm’s length instead of delving into negotiations. New GM Bill Smith, like his predecessor Terry Ryan, is extremely guarded about contract discussions, so we knew the details weren’t going to come from the Twins.

Finally yesterday, Hunter acknowledged this, saying, “I don’t think there’s going to be any negotiations,” during this exclusive 15-day negotiating window for the Twins. Asked which side had halted the talks, Hunter said, “I think it was more me telling them.” Here’s our story from today’s edition.

What I’ve heard is this: Hunter and Reynolds were adamant about wanting to work out a long-term contract extension last winter. But when no deal was reached, they notified the Twins with a letter at the end of spring training that they preferred not to negotiate during the season. When the Twins made their three-year, $45 million offer in late August, Hunter and Reynolds signaled that negotiations might as well be tabled until Hunter could test the open market.

This helps explain why there haven’t been any negotiations since the season ended, though Smith is hinting the Twins could renew efforts during this 15-day window.

I have received a few e-mails today with readers basically saying good riddance to Hunter and calling him greedy. But to me, both sides are responsible for letting it get to this point. The Twins could have made their move last offseason, offering Hunter security at a time when he still had the risk of getting hurt in the final year of his deal. Now, he has earned the right to test free agency.

For those who think Hunter was foolish to turn down 3/45, I think you are grossly underestimating today’s market. A National League scout told me yesterday that 5/75 million was a low estimate for Hunter, and that he expects him to get $90 million, probably from the Yankees. Asked who he’d rather have Hunter or Andruw Jones, the scout said Hunter, adding that it isn’t even close.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 10:17 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.