1) As a beat writer, the first thing you do is kick yourself for not knowing, for not having one word about Torii Hunter in the morning paper. But after shouting a few choice words this morning (Sorry, Julie) and hearing the details from Los Angeles, I felt better. The Angels didn’t start spreading the news until after midnight (Central) last night. The teleconference with Torii started at 1:15 a.m.

2) Since the Hunter news overshadowed it, here’s what I worked on yesterday. Got an e-mail asking me if Johan asked for $126 million over seven years or five years. Actually, I’m not sure. All I heard was $126 million. Zito got that for seven years, but I had a person tell me today that the way this market is headed, Johan could command $25 million per year.

3) Here’s a quote I didn’t use today that needs to be heard. It’s from Larry Reynolds, Hunter’s agent: “I’m sure the Twins have in their mind what they can and cannot do, and we respect that. It’s important for the fans in Minnesota to understand that Torii cherished his time there. In the end, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

4) From what I gathered, these were the final offers:

Twins: 3 years/$45 million
Royals: 5/75
White Sox: 5/75 (with strong hints that more was coming)
Rangers: 5/75 (with an option for a sixth year that would have brought it to $84m)
Angels: 5/90 (with a complete no-trade clause).

5) Hunter’s breakdown: “I was actually close with Chicago because they really have a chance to win in Chicago. Other teams were kind of a year away. I could have done the Royals, I could have done the Rangers for sure and several other teams. With the Dodgers, I didn’t get a chance to get to those guys because it was so late. I think they were going a different route.

“[The Angels] came and swept me off my feet. I never thought the Angels would be the team to step up and get it done. If you ask what team I would want to play for out there, it would be the Halos. But I knew I couldn’t because they had Gary Matthews Jr. So they were straight in the outfield.”

6) So what do the Twins get for their trouble? Because Hunter is a Type A free agent, the Twins will get the Angels’ 2008 first-round draft pick (No. 27 overall) and a compensation pick between the first and second rounds.

7) A quick word of thanks here to La Velle for jumping on the story with me, even though he was supposed to have the holiday off. Hope you can enjoy the rest of the time with your family in Chicago.
Finally, apologies to Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and the Olson family. Sorry I missed the Thanksgiving feast.

I just talked to Torii Hunter, and he confirmed that he has agreed to a five-year deal with the Angels. The deal is believed to be worth $90 million.

I’ll have much more on this later. Hunter said the Twins never changed their offer, which was for three years, $45 million. But he said he has no bitterness toward them at all. He said the White Sox, Rangers and Royals were the teams that made the strongest efforts, but the Angels swooped in unexpectedly on Tuesday.

From Buster Olney’s blog today:

• Rival general managers say that in recent days, Minnesota’s Bill Smith is quietly gauging the market for left-hander Johan Santana, determining what deals he might have, in the aftermath of the report that Santana turned down a five-year, $93 million offer from the Twins. The Mets will be among the most aggressive teams in any Santana bidding.

We have yet to receive those same indications from other teams, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before the game is abuzz with serious Santana trade speculation, especially heading into the winter meetings.

Note: Apologies to those readers who were looking for more in-depth coverage of the Rule Five implications to yesterday’s 40-man roster decisions. Complete disclosure: While chasing other angles, I have not had time to research who is most in jeopardy of being claimed. However, I will go out on a limb and say I seriously doubt the squad has left the next Johan Santana or Shane Mack unprotected.

Smith told me, “I think every organization wishes it was a 50-man roster on this day because yeah, there are guys you’d like to protect and guys you’d like to reward and guys you don’t want to lose.”

The Twins announced that they have added RHP Bobby Korecky, INF Matt Tolbert and INF Matt Macri to their 40-man roster. Teams had until Tuesday to set their 40-man rosters in advance of the Dec. 6 Rule Five draft. The moves left the Twins with 39 players on their 40-man, as changes can be made for players obtained through free agency or trade.

Twins GM Bill Smith enjoyed calling Korecky, Tolbert and Macri with the news.

“All three of those guys were genuinely touched,” he said. “And they are all deserving players.”

T.R. Sullivan writes that the Texas Rangers have been talking to Torii Hunter about a five-year deal but are not believed to be close to an agreement after the big dinner meeting at Rangers owner Tom Hicks’ house on Monday evening.

Sullivan’s story also says that Hunter denied a report by the Chicago Sun-Times that he could sign a contract by the end of the week.

The White Sox are working this with the most urgency, though you can tell the Rangers are determined not to be outbid. Meantime, we’re hearing the Dodgers are building their case. Last week on KFAN-1130, Hunter said his agent, Larry Reynolds, would soon be looking to re-open discussions with the Twins, but as yet, we have received no indications that they are back in negotiations.

Reynolds told the Dallas Morning News, “We’re hoping to make some movement sometime shortly after Thanksgiving because Torii wants to enjoy the holiday and think things through.”