Will Torii Hunter Napoli Us This Weekend?

[Taylor]

I think he gets jitters playing in Anaheim for the first time since leaving, and has a rough weekend.  I'm basing this off of how did against Minnesota the first time after signing with the Angels.

 

Except he was on the Angels then. Now he's not on the Angels, so success against his former team is inevitable.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Torii light us up this weekend.

[mota_madness]

If we get swept this weekend, can I borrow your pic of La Russa for my new profile photo?

Go ahead use it... spread the hope

[Troll Daddy]

I think the Angels offered him what he said he would take last year when he was saying he wanted to end his career as an Angel. I think that was before he decided he was going to the Tigers but just after he said he would take even less. Torii has this ability to say a lot of things so it is kind of difficult to figure what he really means until later when he explains how he didn't mean what he said.

 

You're a grown man Blarg ... you should of known what he meant. He never said he would take far less than market value. Water under the bridge now.

[Sully151]

I hope he does. I hope the rest of the Tigers go into a terrible slump and we sweep, but I hope Hunter is on fire.

[Jason]

Based on the Angel's pitching, it's certain.

[RenoHalo]

Let's put it this way, after this weekend, Torii might start getting some HOF love....

[Brent Maguire]

Yeah I can see it happening. He's absolutely killing the baseball right now and he's facing our terrible pitching(so far). 

 

Coming back here can only pump him up to do better too. 

[Agalloch]

Big time.

[Aaronkv]

Silence for Torii!!!

 

Just kidding, I'll have my Big Game Hunter shirt on. His first year with the Angels was also my first year as a Season Seat Holder. I'll be Cheering for him, Hopefully he does good but doesn't hurt us. The way he's playing he's Naopli'ing everyone.

[Glen]

He's gonna Napoli the **** outta us.  Meanwhile, Josh Hamilton will continue to struggle against the marine layer.

[Jimmag]

He is too nice a guy so, I say he goes easy on us. He gets one hit this series maybe two at most.

It is going to be good to see him again just not good to see him in a Tiger uni.

[KarenaHostile]

bdavis621

 

Don't know how to answer someone's post here, but bdavis621 said "he could have stayed here if he wanted to."  That ..."he bolted to Detroit at start of free agency." 

 

   That's BS! Torii waited & was very patient in waiting, for some sort of offer.  They never really made him a decent or credible offer.  They didn't want to re-sign him! They said so.  He wanted to stay!! The Angels insulted him.  They said they just couldn't spend the $ for him.  I hope he does GREAT this weekend.  I'll be there tonight giving him a standing O.  I'm ashamed at the way mgmt. treated him & I want him to know that we, as fans, are very grateful for the years he gave us & the loyalty he showed the Angels up to the end.  He was so much more to the team than just a player.  He was the heart & spirit of the team & I, for one, miss him terribly this year.  

[Brent Maguire]

Uh, Torii was the one who said he wanted to be an Angel for the rest of his career and said he'd take a discount to stay. Obviously, the offer we gave him wasn't enough but there was absolutely nothing wrong with what they did. Torii obviously wanted to move on and get a bigger paycheck.

 

If I were management, I would have just offered him a 1 year 12 mil dollar arbitration deal. If he took it, we have him for 1 more year. If not, we would have picked up the draft pick. Torii probably would have taken it but I can't say that for sure. Getting 26 million dollars at 38 years old is pretty enticing for anybody. 

[AZMike]

Uh, Torii was the one who said he wanted to be an Angel for the rest of his career and said he'd take a discount to stay. Obviously, the offer we gave him wasn't enough but there was absolutely nothing wrong with what they did. Torii obviously wanted to move on and get a bigger paycheck.

 

If I were management, I would have just offered him a 1 year 12 mil dollar arbitration deal. If he took it, we have him for 1 more year. If not, we would have picked up the draft pick. Torii probably would have taken it but I can't say that for sure. Getting 26 million dollars at 38 years old is pretty enticing for anybody. 

Had we offered the qualifying offer (1 yr $13.3M) he would've very likely taken it. Detroit and others likely would not have offered as much if they had to give up a draft pick to sign him. 

[haloman]

Torii will get caught trying to steal third.

[Brent Maguire]

Had we offered the qualifying offer (1 yr $13.3M) he would've very likely taken it. Detroit and others likely would not have offered as much if they had to give up a draft pick to sign him. 

Yeah I was in the camp that was ok with offering that because it was only 1 more year and if he didn't take it, we got something back. I think 1 year of Torii would've been smarter than 5 years of Hamilton. 

[AZMike]

Yeah I was in the camp that was ok with offering that because it was only 1 more year and if he didn't take it, we got something back. I think 1 year of Torii would've been smarter than 5 years of Hamilton. 

Agree completely. At the time I figured the plan was to stick with Wells as backup OF, play Bourjos, and spend the money on Greinke. I wasn't super adamant about re-signing Hunter either but IMO they should've offered the QO and I would've been happy with either outcome (1 year deal, or netting a draft pick in return)

 

I didn't like signing Hamilton then turning around and giving up Morales. Felt too much like robbing from Peter to pay Paul. Of course I expect Hamilton to put up a better year than Morales but not $20M worth more (not to mention future years). 

 

 

According to Captain Hindsight, knowing that a Wells trade was going to happen we should skipped the Hamilton deal, signed Sanchez and possilbly one more good FA relief pitcher, re-signed Torii for the season to play every day RF, then run a platoon of:

 

against LHP, or playing in Houston:  

Bourjos CF, Trumbo DH/1B, Morales as pinch hitter off the bench 

 

against RHP, or with CJ/Richards pitching in hitters parks:

Morales 1B/DH, Trumbo LF, Peter as pinch runner and

defensive sub off the bench

 

Move either of Bourjos or Morales at the deadline if we're able to get fair return for them. If not keep them both as depth in case of injury to a starting player. 

[Angel Oracle]

YES!

 

Just about ANY hitter could Napoli us right now.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

9-11 3 HRs 11 RBI, and a Gold glove catch.