Torii Hunter Signs Two-Year Deal With the Detroit Tigers

Photo by Gary A. Vasquez, US Presswire

Just yesterday, free agent outfielder Torii Hunter met with Dave Dombrowski and the Detroit Tigers. Well, needless to say, those negotiations went pretty well. Earlier today, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported that the Tigers and Hunter agreed to terms on a contract, making the free agent the newest addition to the 2012 American League Champions, firmly replacing Delmon Young, whom the Tigers let pass by. 

Hunter, 37, is extremely familiar with the American League Central Division. After all, from 1997-to-2007, Hunter was a member of the Minnesota Twins. He was certainly a fan favorite there, and played pretty well in his tenure as a Twin. A two-time All-Star, and seven-time Gold Glove winner, this news certainly must make Twins fans feel awkward, and Cleveland Indians fans uneasy. In his career, Torii has hit .283 against the Tribe, with 28 home runs, 37 doubles, and an OPS of .826. 

From a baseball perspective, I'm not sure that the Tigers could have done much better at the price that they got Hunter, which was $26 million over two years. They definitely get an upgrade over Delmon Young, who, despite his strong postseason performances, agitated Tigers fans with his poor performance in the regular season (.267/.296/.411, 18 HR, 27 2B). 

Fielding wise, there aren't many better than Hunter even at his age, and offensively Hunter had one of his best seasons last year for the Angels. Hunter hit .313, a career-high mark, with a .365 OBP and .451 SLG (.817 OPS), a 132 OPS+ which was also a career-high, and did a good job in the field. 

Look out, A.L. Central. Torii is back.