Hope for a Hunter Homecoming

This idea makes too much sense.

Any Hollywood executives reading this can feel free to contact me – I know you’ll be excited.

Are you ready?

Torii Hunter should sign a one year deal with the Twins this offseason.

BOOM.

I’m not saying this because he is my favorite player.

I’m not saying this to pass the time until the playoffs start.

I’m saying this because it makes perfect sense.

And who doesn't miss that smile?

The Minnesota Twins are not good this year. They are on pace to finish dead last in the division yet again. They are too young to compete with the big kids.  And that’s okay.

The aspect that I like about the current state of my Twins is that they are raw.

With that said, it’s time to get cooking.

Terry Ryan, Ron Gardenhire and the rest of the Twins executives have lit the coals, so to speak, but they are stuck in a phase of waiting for things to heat up.

Hunter would act as a bottle of lighter fluid that would ignite this team into something the people want to see – fire.

It's time to bust out the number 48 jerseys

For such a talented yet inexperienced group of players like our current Twins, Hunter would add leadership, spunk and, most importantly, fun to a team that desperately needs it.

Not only that, But Torii Hunter loves to teach his teammates and is good at it. He would be the perfect mentor for the up-and-coming prospects and those who have already made it but are experiencing some growing pains.

Remember about 10 years ago when the Twins had a powerful young left-handed hitter who swung at too many sliders on the outside half of the plate? His name was Justin Morneau, and thanks to Hunter he would go on to belt 221 homeruns during his tenure with the Twins.

For it was Torii who had the guts to get into a scuffle with the struggling and irritable Morneau when his pre-game preparation started to get neglected. The two got into a heated argument, bumped chests a few times but eventually got through it. Though it wasn’t pretty, Hunter got the young first baseman back on track.

Hmmm… a young, powerful left handed batter who strikes out too much. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Enter Oswaldo Arcia, whose splits against left handed pitchers, though very slowly improving, are downright ugly.

If he had the chance to pick Hunter’s brain on a regular basis, he would mature as a hitter and increase his offensive numbers considerably.

Undoubtedly the funniest guy in the major leagues

And that’s not all.

Just take a look this Christmas list of traits that Torii Hunter would help improve on our team.

He would be a guiding force in the clubhouse.

He would absolutely be an improvement in left field.

He would still supply a few homeruns (he had 17 in 2013 and has 15 so far in 2014).

He would help with the major league transition of Byron Buxton, the most highly-touted prospect the Twins have had since Joe Mauer, just as he did with Mike Trout a few years ago.

He would put fans back in the seats of Target Field. The man continues to get a standing ovation from Twins fans even while being on the opposing team, imagine what they would do if he was on our side.

One last curtain call...

Over the past few off seasons, I wanted the Twins to dish out big free agency contracts for better starting pitching. That’s not the case this year.

All I’m asking of them this year is a comfortable one year, $7.5 million contract so that I can see my old friend where he belongs.

Some of my happiest memories took place at the Metrodome, with a Homer-hanky in my hand and Torii Hunter donning a Twins jersey in the batter’s box.

I’m ready for some new happy memories.