Torii Hunter, OF, Minnesota Twins

July 21, 2006 @ 16:00:00

By Bryce McRae
Edited by Ryan Dodson

The Story So Far

With the Twins looking at missing the postseason for the second straight year, it looked like the small-market club would have to offload more of their talent before the non-waiver trading deadline arrived. The Twins, while not being able to compete with the likes of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox or Chicago White Sox to sign the top free agents, were looking to cash in on outfielder Torii Hunter (foot), especially as they were not expected to be playing postseason baseball.

However, they are currently on a seven-game winning streak, and have won 29 of 36 games prior to and after the All-Star break. The Twins find themselves just 9.5 games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central entering games Friday, July 21, and four games back of the Chicago White Sox in the Wild Card race.

As if being close to the playoffs weren't enough to keep Hunter around, Saturday, July 15, he left a game early to be taken to the hospital to have X-rays on his left foot. This effectively killed his trade value right before the Twins would have been able to deal him. He was later diagnosed with a fractured left foot.

As Twins' fans will remember, Hunter's 2005 season was ended prematurely when he went out with a broken left ankle and torn ligaments Friday, July 29, 2005. The Twins considered trading him in the offseason but couldn't find the right deal for him, so they kept him around in hopes of making another World Series run this year.

His injury comes at a time when the Twins are already stretched out with injuries in their outfield and they will miss not only his bat (he is hitting .269, with 14 home runs, 49 RBI and 51 runs in 88 games this season), but his Gold Glove-caliber defense as well.

What This Means for the Twins

With their recent surge, it wasn't likely that the Twins would have traded Hunter, but if they went on a prolonged losing streak you never know. Hunter has gone on record saying he loves the Twins but playing on the turf at the Metrodome could have him leave through free agency in the near future. 

But with him now being out until at least Monday, July 31, he will likely spend at least the rest of the season with the Twins. 

Replacing him in the outfield since has been outfielder Jason Tyner, while outfielder Josh Rabe has also gotten his first major league starts due to injuries in the Twins outfield. Among those missing time are outfielders Lew Ford (oblique), Shannon Stewart (foot) and Jason Kubel (knees). Of them all, Stewart has the most serious injury and could be done for the season.

Hunter has stated that he will be ready to come off the disabled list July 31, but this could just be him trying to re-ignite some trade interest in him. The New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox or Detroit Tigers could all have been legitimate destinations for him prior to his injury. 

While he could be out just the two weeks, he will probably be gone anywhere from two weeks to one month. In the meantime, Tyner will continue to fill in for Hunter in the field, and in seven games this season, he is hitting .370 with six RBI. He is a career .265 hitter and has 60 RBI in 270 career games. He has never hit a major league home run. Those are not the type of fantasy numbers you want replacing him. As well, Tyner does not play nearly as good defense as Hunter.

From a non-fantasy point of view, the Twins have been able to play through a lot of injuries to their outfield this year (as stated above) because of their solid starting pitching (see starting pitchers Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano) and some timely hitting from first baseman Justin Morneau and catcher Joe Mauer. Mauer currently leads the major leagues in batting average with a .377 average. This should continue as the team has shown resiliency, especially after seemingly falling out of the postseason race early in the season.

From a fantasy point of view, the loss of Hunter will hurt your team in the home run, RBI and runs scored category. It would be advisable not to look at the Twins for his replacement as Tyner does not give you good home run or RBI totals, and his average will most likely drop closer to his career average as time passes. Outfielder Rondell White (shoulder) could be worth a look as he has been productive lately. Since returning from injury Monday, July 16, in five games he has gone 8-for-18, with six runs, three home runs and six RBI. But he is going to be bothered by his shoulder for the rest of the season and be wary of his health. The other Twins outfielders do not represent good value and will most likely lose their jobs or be part of a platoon when the players listed above return from injury. These include Tyner, Josh Rabe and White will likely be relegated solely to a designated hitting role.

Because there are so many solid outfielders in the league, it shouldn't be as hard to replace Hunter for the time being. Take a look at some players, such as Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Jonny Gomes, who have cooled off after a hot start to the year, and he might be worth picking up. Or you could go with a player like White, who has been on a hot streak of late. 

Either way, Hunter's injury does not look to be too serious, and it is something your fantasy team should be able to survive with some savvy free agent pickups.

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Bryce McRae
Bryce McRae is a Managing Editor with KFFL and has been involved in fantasy sports since 1999. He joined KFFL as a volunteer writer in March 2005 before becoming a Hot off the Wire Analyst in March 2006. He began working in his current capacity in September 2008. His work has appeared on fantasy sports sites such as Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline as well as in print. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2008 with a B.A. in History and U.S. Studies.

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