Hunter pulls for the comeback
Posted on October 11th, 2009 – 5:35 PMBy La Velle
Getting close to game time, but I wanted to pass this along.
After beating the Red Sox on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep in the ALDS. There’s little doubt which team Torii Hunter prefers to play in the ALCS.
For details, check out Danny Knobler’s blog here.
33 Responses to "Hunter pulls for the comeback"
yeah, he probably can’t wait to get back at the Yankees for all of the misery they gave to the twins when he was here.
And I’ll be rooting for Torii and the Angels assuming (as I think it’s safe to assume) that it’s a Yankees-Angels ALCS.
Torii, kick their dang butts for us will you?
The Twins can’t even lose 2-1, therefore leaving us the Nick Punto goat.
Sheesh.
The team sure could have used someone like Hunter in this series, because while there was a definate talent talent edge to the Yankees, the biggest edge they had over the Twins was on the mental side.
The Twins knew that they were the underdog and seemed to play like they had nothing to lose right up until the time they did have something to lose(a lead) which they had in every game of the series, and every lead that they had was gone in the Yankees next at bat or in the other case their second at bat(bottum of the ninth) after the Twins took the lead.
I have to tip my hat to Bill Smith for the moves he made this year and hopefully the team will at least make a run at John Lackey. To me he will be worth every penny he gets this offseason because he is a bulldog and a proven postseason winner.
To terry ryan and bill smith you guys should’ve gave hunter the 90 some million dollar contract to hunter then we would’ve had a chase against the yankees
Brainfreeze, yes Hunter sure helped the Twins in previous series against NY. People seem to forget he was apart of the team during past failings in the postseason.
Can’t believe how quickly people forget that.
Hunter would not have helped that much
Brandon, if you gave Hunter $90 million, the Twins couldn’t resign both Mauer and Morneau (despite the new stadium). They probably couldn’t have brought in Orlando Cabrera or Jon Rauch. Having Hunter around would have been nice, but probably wouldn’t have made the difference. And with that money saved on Hunter, they need to get a #1 starter for next year and re-sign Cabrera and Pavano. The big question is what to do about third base. I don’t think Valencia will be ready next year. We have a glut of outfielders, meaning the Twins need to either move Cuddyer back to third or trade somebody to get a 3B, meaning either Young or Kubel has to go. Young is more valuable as a righty, where Kubel is redundant with Mauer and Morneau. The big question is how Target Field will play - will it favor lefties like the Dome did, meaning we should keep Kubel, or will righties be more necessary than ever?
Twins won’t beat NY until they have a closer who can hold a lead. Nathan has been horrible against the Yankees.
I hate Torii Hunter. He will never be welcome on Thunder Island.
Torii Hunter would have been nice to have on the Team against the Yanks!!
GO ANGELS!!!!
I don’t know, Nathan doesn’t look like the same closer anymore. I know it’s the Yanks and all But he’s supposed to be elite. Elite in my opinion is being able to shut teams down when you have to in the Clutch
Nora, it was Hunter’s(or someone like him) additude that the team was lacking for sure. Don’t try to read too much into one comment. I don’t remember recalling the good ole days of Hunter bringing home a World Series ring with the team riding on his back.
Nora, I do agree with you about Nathan. I really like the guy and we don’t get to the playoffs without him but I remember 5 blown saves by him and 3 of them came against the Yankees. Lackey isn’t going to make a difference here either if he simply hands it over and we lose in the 9th inning. The problem against the Yankees wasn’t the starting pitching. In fact, that was a strength with Blackburn and Pavano.
Mental toughness was the issue. Yes Blackburn and Pavano were very good, but how long did the lead that the team scratched out for both of them last.
If the Twins had offerred Hunter 5/$75 he would have stayed. I’m not saying that’s a good contract long-term, but it wouldn’t have taken $90 million IMO.
twins need to make a big run at jj hardy in the offseason and inquire about kevin kouz. solidify that infield for a couple years so they can concentrate on working on the rotation and bullpen. bring back mahay, keep rauch. dump crain as quick as possible. good velocity for crain, but lacking the toughness and wits for a late relief pitcher anymore. hopefully mijares comes back strong.
id say offseason tasks.
1. Trade for jj hardy. o-cab was great here, but how much does he really have left, hardy is a very good defensive ss with pop, and before last year, .275-.285 avg.
2. Try and sign Rich Harden to a contract. they wanted him during the trade deadline, now go and get him without having to give anything up.
3. Put together a package for Kouz. Kouz showed great, not good, but great hot corner defense this year. healthier, younger and a bit more pop and better average then crede.
4. Scour FA market for a solid Rh Rp. Guerrier pitched too much this season and he fell apart, with mahay, mirajes will not have as heavy of a workload, and wont breakdown like at the end of this season.
Any body else have ideas?
If the Twins still had Hunter, we would be in the ALCS this year.
If you look at this team, there is a gaping hole in center field.
Mauer Power,
There’s no gaping hole in CF. The fence and turf are in good condition throughout the stadium.
Again Hunter has been here in the past and the team still does not get out of the 1st round. Maybe they win 1 game of this series but he is not all of a sudden going to help us beat the Yankees he never did in the past.
But NoraG1, real Twins fans just do NOT understand that. 
there is one name we should be talking about… Dan Uggla… the fish dont want to take on his arbitration and we would still have his rights for a few years
“Dan Uggla”
Nope. His fielding is not up to the standards of Gardenhire and the rest of the field staff.
Besides that, he strikes out way too much.
so you would rather have casilla, tolbert, and punto … sounds like a good plan, you are right that has been working great for us. uggla would hit 30 hrs… hitting second… because you have to pitch to him because of mauer and justin behind him… K’s would be way down with the pitches he would be seeing… and he is as good or better than casilla defensivly
Oh please post a new blog, La Velle.
Everytime I read “Hunter pulls for the comeback” I get depressed.
La Velle-
Is it depressing to see Joe C and Howard’s blogs receiving a combined 523 responses (as of right now) compared to yours only getting 25 (26 with this one)? Time to get in the mix and comment on all the Joe Nathan trade talk.
What the Twins need to do is stop thinking about re-signing Mauer and just do what ever it takes. Lets be real here, if Mauser leaves the Twins will get by. But why just get by?
With a new home, the draw should be great. With Mauer re-signed and and 2nd. baseman that can hit and think on the bases. Also a good veteran starting pitcher and a 3rd baseman who can hit some homer runs. Man that would be great. I really think it time to drop that we draft and sign good young players it done. With the holes that had on this time they won the division. With a few upgrades they could have done alot better in the playoffs. Stop and think Twins do the right thing with Mauer and sign some good!!!!!!!!! players and go all the way next year.
Thanks for your ear.
LaVelle, please give us your thoughts on the past season, and what you think the team needs to do in the offseason.
We already know what Joe C. aka “Badhdad Bob” thinks.
I always have to mess something up ^ should read “Baghdad Bob”
The trading of Joe Nathan is something I wanted done before the 2008 season for much better reasons than the angry and somewhat stupid gut reaction people on here, and elsewhere. I thought he was the greatest tradeable asset on the team, and could get us a future closer, and an infielder.
I was shown by the Minnesota Twins why my idea was wrong when Joe Nathan anchored a pitching staff that was almost prepubecent in how young and inexperienced they were. This team needs at least one more season out of Nathan.
Torii certaqinly helping the Angels beat the Yankees. LOL
move on
