The case for Torii

The big debate these days in Twins Territory (besides whether or not Joe Mauer should keep his DL beard) is over the matter of Torii Hunter's impending free agency. Some look at Hunter's contract-year numbers (as of tonight's game .305AVG, 11HR, 45RBI, 17 doubles), his perennial Gold Glove-caliber defense, and longtime loyalty to the franchise and say he ought to be patrolling the center field grass of 3M/Target/NWA Field in 2010. Others say that the offensive numbers are more of a fluke than an enlightened plate approach, his defense has lost at least a step, and the centerfielder of the future awaits in Denard Span of AAA-Rochester.

As if to make a point, as I write that last sentence Hunter belts the first pitch he sees from Jared Weaver over the centerfield wall.

Though I am tempted now to call this a sign from God and end the argument right now, there was another reason I was just about to get to that we ought to hang onto this guy. As much as I will attempt not to make this sound like last year's Jeter-for-MVP argument, it's hard to quantify the effect that Hunter has on the Twins' clubhouse. Consider:

Gardenhire: "We had their young guy on the ropes a few times and ..."

Hunter (from another part of the clubhouse): "Aargh!"

Gardenhire: "... if we just worked a little bit better, I think we could have put a few runs on the board. We also chased pretty bad and ..."

Hunter: "Aargh!"

Gardenhire (pausing): "... not a good game for us ..."

Hunter: "Aargh! You're kidding me!!"

Gardenhire (after another pause): "Very nice Torii. ... So a disappointing day for us."

Hunter: "Aaaargh!!"

Gardenhire: "... so we ..."

Hunter: "AAAAARGH!!"

Gardenhire (giving up): "That pretty much describes it right there. That's how we feel."

To recap: Star player, after a frustrating loss where the team leaves 11 men on base including 7 in scoring position, listens in on Gardy's postgame interview and interjects some well-timed screams of anguish to lighten the mood as well as keep the manager from making excuses for his team when they knew what had gone wrong. This was a critical point in the roadtrip. After getting some good confidence-builder series in against the Brewers, Rangers, Blue Jays and White Sox, a couple of lackluster games at Oakland could lead to another disappointing roadtrip, the kind where watching the team flail at junker lefties and run the basepaths like a short-bus Chinese fire drill makes you consider (gasp) turning off the TV and picking up a book or (scream, faint) leaving it on and switching over to soccer. That's when you know you've hit the lowest of the low; they fight like a seventh grader who just got his asthma medicine stolen. Anyway, the point is that a lot of other stars would have sulked after a loss like that, beating themselves up or even worse, throwing their teammates under the bus rather than absorbing any blame. Torii, like The Dude's famous living room rug, really ties the [clubhouse] together. This team can only laugh their way out of its slump, and what better way to do that now than put in Ramon Ortiz in relief of a man named Boof.