Torii Hunter's Homecoming an Ideal Fit for Young, Talented Minnesota Twins

Torii Hunter is headed home. Seven years after he left Minnesota as a free agent, Hunter agreed Tuesday to a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Twins, a signing first reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

He's not the player he was, but that could be a good thing.

Oh, sure, any team would kill to have a young Torii Hunter, the guy who won nine straight Gold Gloves between 2001 and 2009 and hit 221 home runs over the same stretch.

Yet while Hunter's defense has eroded significantly—his -18.3 Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) was third-worst among qualifying American League outfielders, per FanGraphs—he brings an intangible asset back to Minnesota.

Yes, we're talking about veteran leadership, that oft-overrated quality ascribed to nearly every aging vet at one time or another. 

Hunter, though, is the real deal. He's logged more than 8,000 at-bats and played in 48 postseason games during his exemplary career. More important, he's maintained a consistent reputation as an excellent teammate and a solid clubhouse presence during tours with the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit Tigers.

As Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (h/t Yahoo Sports) points out:

"

When [Paul] Molitor took over for the fired Ron Gardenhire as manager, he spoke about the need for a strong-willed group of veterans to show the youngsters how to play the right way. Molitor did the same thing for the Twins in the final two seasons of his career, which overlapped with Hunter's first two seasons in a Twins uniform.

"

"The experience I have, and all the guys I’ve talked to in my career, it’s something I want to give back," Hunter told James Schmehl of MLive.com in 2013. "If I can make my teammates better, that’s what I’m going to do."

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

He'll have ample opportunity to do exactly that in Minnesota, where he'll join a Twins team short on service time but brimming with young talent.

The most obvious candidates for Hunter's tutelage are a gaggle of green outfielders, including 25-year-old Aaron Hicks, 23-year-old Oswaldo Arcia and 24-year-old Danny Santana. Hunter could also help touted prospects Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, who may force their way into the big leagues next year.

Shortly after news of Hunter's signing broke, Hicks tweeted his approval:

In return for Hunter's baseball acumen, Minnesota's burgeoning youngsters can give the veteran more time to rest his 39-year-old legs.

OK, enough with the old-guy talk—it's time to give Hunter his due. While he isn't the superstar he once was, the man can still swing it.

He was an All-Star as recently as 2013, and though his production dipped last year, he managed to hit .286 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI in 142 games with Detroit.

Considering the paucity of impact hitters remaining on the market, it's possible Hunter could have gotten more money and maybe a second year somewhere else. 

Indeed, much as it resonates from a sentimental standpoint, the Hunter-Minnesota reunion appears a bit odd on the surface, as Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com notes: "On the field, the signing doesn't make much sense for the Twins and Hunter. Not at all. Minnesota needs a stopgap outfielder and can find one at a much lower price. Hunter won't get a chance to play in his first World Series in 2015."

Axisa goes on to argue that the Twins inking Hunter "isn't about on-field value." That's going a little far. If Minnesota's young outfielders grow by osmosis and he puts up numbers similar to last season, that'll be plenty valuable.

But the point stands: From a detached, purely analytical standpoint, the Twins might have been better off with another free agent, and Hunter might have been better off with another club.

Sometimes, though, this stuff transcends analytics. Sometimes baseball is about sentimentality, too.

Sometimes it feels good to go home.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.