I am new to the ‘blog’ world.  For now I am going to assume blog is an acronym for Baseball Lovers Overcome Greed.  I am a baseball fan in general and a Twins fan specifically.   Pardon me for being Curt here but at least I am not Curt Flood.  I love the game.  It is so perfect in so many ways.  I love the Twins.   There are so many reasons I love baseball and the Twins that to try to list them would not be fair for someone that wants to read a blog and not a blovel.  Is that a word?  This is going to seem like a rant.  At least it will if I get my point across.  I have a daughter that is 6 and a son that is 3.  I named my daughter Victoria so I could call her Tori(i).  My wive realized this a game in the Metrodome and I think I still might have the bruise to prove it.  I sit in the Metrodome and see the banners, I remember the old Met and the Twins I loved as a child.  OK, I will get to my point.  T. Hunter leaves for warmer environs.  Why????  This I will never understand.  It is just another confusing decision that a person that has choices makes that bewilders me.  He had the chance to stay.  It seems so damn bizarre to me.   Money cannot be that great of a force.  T.  Hunter had the potential to be up on the wall of fame in the Metrodome.  With Tony O., Harmon, Kirby (his self proclaimed hero) and Herbie.  Where else would you want to be.  Let’s assume the best for him.   He gets one, two or three rings in the next 6 years.  He retires.  Where does he belong.   He is not going to the Hall.  He will be rich but he already was.  He has gained nothing 5 years after he is out of the game.  Had he stayed in Mn he would be a legend.  Forever.  What is the difference between 15 and 18 or 20 million a year?  Ask Knoblauch, Cordova or those that made similar decisions if they made the right move.  Or the numerous Twins that stayed against higher money.  Hrbek, Kirby or Radke to name a few.  What if it is about money?  I am not in the business of advertising or marketing but let’s assume that had the Twins offered T.H. 3 million more per year he would have stayed.  It seems as simple as him signing to stay here because he loves it here and leaking that to the media then I would guess the endorsements would make up the 3 million or if not at least let him sleep a little better at night.  We have overlooked his dismal average in critical situations at the plate.  We loved him in spite of his success or lack of it.  But now I want him to fail.  I know it is petty and meanspirited.  But I wish that it could be a lesson to the next one to leave because of money when they had it all to be a local legend.  At the end of the day, what else do you have, if not the love of those that know you best?

The Twins made a move last night, trading away SS Jason Bartlett and SP Matt Garza for OF Delmon Young. Minor league player Eduardo Morlan was also sent to Tampa for infielder Brendan Harris and outfielder Jason Pridie.

There’s not much to judge this trade on, until we see what kind of careers Garza and Young have. I am sad to see Bartlett go after all the time we invested in him. It seemed like he was close to realizing his potential, both as a hitter and fielder. I’m not sure who the Twins have in mind now for the SS position. It’ll be interesting and probably frustrating to watch the potential musical infield chairs next season.

I think I’m finally ready to write about Torii Hunter’s departure. It’s been a few days and the news has sunk in as much as it’s going to, until I see him in that Angels uniform. Here’s how the past few days, well, months, really, have gone for me as a Twins fan:

Denial: Coming into this season, the big story was Torii’s impending free agency and if the Twins were going to ante up and sign him again. For the most part, I ignored this talk, since we were talking about an event that wouldn’t take place for months. But I was also in denial, because past years have shown me that no player is safe from the wrath of the “small market syndrome.”

Symptoms of this disease include the inability to keep players in the peak of their career, taking cheap gambles on older players with something to prove, a constant wave of “fresh” talent from the minors and the mantra “We’re building for the future.”

As the season wore on, it was clear we weren’t headed to the playoff, so Torii Talk took center stage. I still was in denial, thinking the Twins would pull something out at the last minute to keep him. I mean, Torii IS the face of the Twins, as much as the team wished Joe Mauer really was. I just thought they would realize what a huge commodity he is to the fans and they would take that extra step to try and sign him. Now, I believe the Angels are overpaying for him, no doubt, but that 3-year, 45-million deal the Twins offered was a bit of a slight. After all he has done for the organization, that’s the only offer he gets? I’d be pissed off too. Which leads me to the next stage…

Anger: There were a few weeks there right around the end of the season, where I was so angry to be a Twins fan. I mean, they keep talking about the “future” and how they are building for it, but how long have fans heard this? When is the future now? This season we had the reigning batting champion, MVP and Cy Young winners. And we finished below .500?

Bargaining:

Now, this stage kind of melded with Anger. I started pleading (in my mind) with the Twins front office. It went like this: “Please sign Torii. Just think. WIth Torii, Johan, Justin and Joe, plus with Liriano coming back, this year could really be our year!! C’mon, when are we really going to just gun for that championship? Carl, just ante up, pay Torii, and let’s just go for broke this year. It’ll all be worth it when we’re holding that trophy next October.”

Well, needless to day, they didn’t listen to me. Instead, they signed Craig Monroe and let Torii go. In other words, it’s been like every other offseason in Twins history.

Depression:

This stage hit on Thanksgiving. Well, it first started when all those White Sox rumors were circulating. I live in Illinois right now, so I was surrounded by people super-excited at the possibility of Hunter being their center fielder. That was depressing. I couldn’t even process the image of Hunter in a White Sox uniform, of all teams.

Then, Thanksgiving morning, I pull up ESPN.com and there it is. Torii Hunter is going to LA. I spent the rest of the day in a bit of a stupor, trying to absorb the news and realizing that being a Twins fan really sucks.

Acceptance:

I’m still trying to get through this stage. I keep trying to say “It’s going to be okay” but it’s hard to really believe that when Torii was such a huge part of the team for so long. This team will have no personality or real leader this year. Not to mention, we will never be on Web Gems anymore, which was one of the small pleasures I had in life.

I know this is probably the best thing for Torii, just like it was the best thing for KG to go to Boston. But it still hurts to let people who have grown up and matured here and see them reap the rewards elsewhere. I feel like the girlfriend who has put in time and effort on a guy, just to see him propose to the next girl who comes along.

Now, I realize he is closer to the end of his career than to the beginning, and that 5 years is probably 1 year too long, but Torii Hunter is a great player who brought so much more to the team than spectacular catches and .287 career batting average. I’d take that BA any day when it comes with an outgoing, motivating leader who can fire up his team with a speech or a smile.

Good luck in Anaheim, Torii.

I’m sure I’ll have to go through all these phases again when the Angels open up at the Metrodome March 31st. (Seriously. Of all teams to have a Home Opener against, it has to be the Angels??? Is that not proof the universe has the sickest sense of humor around?)

Torii Hunter is headed to Los Angeles. Stay tuned for more on this later, after the news has sunk in and I’ve gone through the 5 stages of grief. Which might take a while, since my love for him knew no bounds. (That sounds really creepy, but really, it’s not.)

It’s the off-season for the Twins, and although it isn’t like last year’s off-season when Morneau got the MVP and Santana nabbed the Cy Young, it’s still going to be a critical time for the Twins.

This team is on the verge of really gunning for a championship next year, or reverting back to a rebuilding stage once again. Do they try to sign Santana or just auction him off to the highest bidder? What about Torii? Who’s on third? And how is Fransisco Liriano’s rehab progressing?

The Twins did make a move this past week with the pick up of OF Craig Monroe from the Cubs. It’s a typical Twins move; get a player on the cheap and hope he has a career year with them. Personally, even though I’m a bit tired of these moves, I don’t really mind getting Monroe. Every time he’s played against the Twins, he killed them. So, fingers crossed, he can provide that same punch in a Twins uniform. He also provides another option to Jason Kubel in left field. Because despite so much promise and potential, Kubel just hasn’t lived up to it. (I think it goes back to that postseason at-bat against Mariano Rivera in the ALDS a few years back. Striking out on three nasty pitches in a clutch situation would break anyone’s psyche.)

As the Twins move forward this off-season, I’m eager to see who’s going to fill out the rotation and if the Twins have the guts to make a big move that will show their fans that they are finally, really, truly in it to win it next year.

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