Looks like Joe Mauer has a strained left hamstring that will knock him out for a couple of games. He probably was going to get Sunday off anyway, but the Twins will monitor their catcher and plot a course of action over the next two days.

True, Mauer isn’t hitting for power. True, he’s not driving in a lot of runs. But he takes good at-bats. Even if he takes more pitches than people care for, he works counts, draws walks and gets on base. The Twins need all the able hitters they can as they try to get back in the race.

By now you’ve read my story about Torii Hunter rejecting an advance from the Twins to negotiate a new contract. Both Hunter and his agent, Larry Reynolds, denied a report that he turned down a four-year, $56 million offer. Terry Ryan, as usual, declined to comment.

While that may be true, I’m convinced that the Twins talked to Hunter about something.  The exact number just hasn’t been discovered yet. This dance is not over. I think Hunter and his agent are trying to get the Twins to step up. I think the Twins will approach Hunter again. On the open market, Hunter could fetch more than $14 million per, and the Twins need to address this issue because they could wind up being regarded as just another team when free agency comes.

I also feel that Torii should be reasonable here, too. He’s been with the organization throughout his career. He likes the area. Most importantly, he knows former Twins (Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins and Jacque Jones) who have discovered that the grass wasn’t greener over the other side of the fence. While he’s hinted that he would take a discount to stay, he’s never said what that discount is. Now may be the time.

This is a negotiation, folks. And instead of getting mad, sometimes we have to let the millionaires fight.

Hunter sat back during the offseason and spring training when the Twins talked big about signing Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Nathan to multi-year deals. He sat back and watched as the Twins batted .250 in their quest - locking up only Mauer - and now have the looming 2008 free agency of Johan Santana to deal with.

Even if some of you think Hunter is greedy, you have to admit he’s got the Twins over a barrel. The offense needs him. He’s playing the best ball of his career. Denard Span isn’t the answer and the Twins are not big spenders in free agency, so finding a replacement that way would seem realistic.

So have fun with this one, folks. It’s going to get crazy.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 12:35 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.