Reports: Rangers Making Push For Torii Hunter, Who Will Make Decision Soon
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - On the last day of the 2014 season for the Detroit Tigers, outfielder Torii Hunter contemplated retirement and noted that if he did play again in 2015 he would prefer to rejoin a team for which he had already played. That description would have limited his options to the Tigers, the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels.
Evidently, Hunter has since become open to other possibilities.
Hunter, who will turn 40 during the 2015 season, is working on a deal with the Texas Rangers, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. Olney's ESPN colleague Jerry Crasnick confirmed that information and added that Hunter is still in talks with other clubs but is expected to make a decision soon.
A nine-time Gold Glove winner, Hunter does not have the awe-inspiring moves in the outfield he once did. He helped the Tigers on the offensive side, however, averaging .304 in 2013 and .286 in 2014 and hitting 17 home runs both years.
Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said in mid-November that Detroit would not re-sign Hunter because the team did not want to use him as an everyday player, and Hunter still wants to play every day if he has that option. Money also could have been a barrier, as Dombrowski remarked he had told Hunter's agent that a deal with designated hitter Victor Martinez (which the Tigers completed) would likely preclude the team from bringing back Hunter, who made $26 million in his two seasons with Detroit.