Torii Hunter to Tutor Young Minnesota Twins

 When Ken Rosenthal first reported that Torii Hunter had re-signed with the Minnesota Twins, my first thought was which promising young outfielders will loss at-bats in 2015. The Twins have a number of young prospects knocking on the door and a pair of young outfielders trying to figure things out.

With very little chance of the Twins competing in 2015, it was a bit of a head scratcher, when rumours started to circulate about Torii Hunter’s interest in returning to Minnesota, to a team of young developing Twins. Normally at 39 years old you’d be looking to latch onto a team that has a chance to win it all.. With Hunter, the Twins get over 2200 games of experience, which has overcome some issues on and off the field, but has always consistently produced on the field.

"“This is where I needed to be,” Hunter said Wednesday after signing a $10.5 million, one-year contract with the Twins. “This is home for me.” courtesy of theoaklandpress.com"

My advice to Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hick is this: Pick Hunter’s brain every chance they get, pick it in the off-season, pick during spring training, pick it during batting practice, and between innings. Aaron Hicks seems to be very excited to be playing with Hunter.

The trio of Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, and Eddie Rosario are likely to gain even more from having Hunter around the clubhouse. They’ll be presented the challenge of never facing Major League pitching before. It is very possible that these high prospects may receive significant at-bats in 2015, despite not registering a single at-bat with the Twins Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/4/2014.

Byron Buxton will benefit the most by having a future hall of fame outfielder to model himself after. He can learn about conditioning, on-field and off-field preparation, as well as recovering from injuries. Buxton is no stranger to injuries. He is currently recovering from surgery on his middle finger and he missed most of 2014 with a wrist injury. He has also suffered a concussion, strained shoulder, and some bad bruises.

Minnesota’s 1st round selection from the 2012 Amateur Draft was rated as the top prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America in 2014 (see complete list). Byron was expected to breeze through the minors and debute for Minnesota at some point in 2014. The aforementioned wrist injury derailed those plans in a hurry. Instead, Byron finished the year with one Double-A game under his belt.

Having Torii Hunter signed to a one contract will allow Paul Molitor the luxury of turning to a veteran/leader for some quality AB’s while. These quality AB’s will benefit Buxton by allowing him to start the year off in Triple-A, but would a full year of Hunter’s tutelage have a greater impact on his development? .