I really can't blame Hunter for taking a shot at management on this one. You could say, he shouldn't have done it through the media, but then again, if it's effective in sending a signal, then, well so be it.

It is, in some respects, an act of leadership. It's certainlly more cowardly, to suck it up and say nothing when you feel managment is making a mistake. Hunter is simply challenging management to "do better". What's wrong with that?

Can you really blame Hunter for the comments? In the past few years, prior to the '05 campaign, the Twins were probably a legitimate "bat" away from getting to the World Series. Hunter, despite his well-chronicled flaws, was a valuable member of those teams and played a substatial role in their success. During this mini-run the Twins had, Ryan and Co. simply did not go for jugular by spending what it would have taken to put the team over the top. Hunter has consistently chided them to add some legitimate offense to compliment the core. You can say Hunter should have done more, but he was right, they needed some more horses.

The facts are: Hunter's not getting any younger, and as this year proved, the Twins, despite having excellent pitching are no lock for the playoffs. And, as a certain columnist pointed out over the weekend, the Twins are threatening to be a speck in the rearview mirror of Cleveland and Chicgo for the foreseable future.

In '05, management asked Hunter to be patient as they filled the infield with rookies and utility players and the whole offense collapsed.

Now, they are in the mode of remaking the offense and this is the first move? To hire a virtual unknown? Maybe it will turn out to be another "golden stroke of genius" by Terry Ryan, but you can see at face value that it certainly doesn't appear to be a "swashbuckling" organization defining move.

It makes it tough, when the players know this guy wasn't your first choice for the job. To some degree I blame Molitor and his wishy-washy commitment to the organization.

On the one hand, I don't think Hunter is entirely wrong to question Vavras' credentials for his new job. Looking at his previous job description in the paper, it seems Vavras was promoted from an essentially administrative position. His hands-on coaching credentials apparently come from a managing position in the Dodgers org, more than a decado ago.

On the other hand, Torii does this every winter. Guys get replaced by less experienced hands, and Torii gripes in the press. When the team did well the following season, Torii would come around; but, this season, he seemed to carry that chip on his shoulder all season. When the team had any troubles, he was quick to blame the youth. Think he'll be a more positive influence this year, after his buddy Jacque is the latest to go?

I believe that Terry Ryan could have done some things differently to bring in a big masher in the past few years. That includes cutting the cord on his friend Jacque. But it's also fact that when the club gave Torii his big contract a few years back, HE was supposed to be one of the big mashers who would carry the offense. As much as Torri has helped the team win 3 division titles, he also deserves a large share of the blame for the failure to get all the way over the hump--and for the slide back to 3rd place this season.

The future of the team is going to be built around Mauer/Morneau, hopefully Kubel, and the young pitching in the rotation behind Santana. It seems that Vavras was hired possibly because TR believes that a coach from the minors is best suited to helping the young foundation develop. If Torii isn't on board with that plan, it's a strike against him at this point. On the field, he's becoming less cost-effective: strike two. If his contract also prevents the GM from making any bold changes to the lineup this winter: strike three. Ship him out.

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The one thing that made me laugh was that he bemoans that he wasn't consulted by management.

I don't think he's bucking for a trade. I think he wants to be Assistant GM.

Get rid of him. Free up that salary and use it help get a bopper.

Right, BP. He's talking like he's a multiple MVP award winner instead of a one-time All Star, which is what he is.

He's also talking like a guy who is paid $10 million per year. The Twins, by paying him that salary have indicated, by default, they feel he's an important player to them, regardless of how many MVP's he has or hasn't won. What is the criteria for speaking up if you don't think the organization is serious enough about winning? Now, maybe the Twins will decide they can deploy those resources in a more efficient manner, and they don't really need a streaky .260 hitter who hits 25 home runs and strikes out a lot.

So, you don't think the Twins are serious about winning? You know, they could have left Scott Ulger as hitting coach. They could have gone to arbitration with Santana. I think that the Twins are serious about winning, but I also think that they have certain philosophies that they adhere to, like promoting from within.

Hunter has been a huge off-season critic of the organization each of the last three years. That's what he does. When the Twins made their off-season moves following the 2003 season, Torii was yapping about breaking up the team. Funny, but those A.J. and Milton deals look pretty damned good right now.

Last year, he was complaining again. He openly campaigned to keep Jacque Jones with the team. I'll argue that keeping Jones instead of spending money on infielders was a huge source of the offensive problem this year.

Now, he's out in front, complaining again. His previous off-season "advice" has been marginal at best. In one respect, though, maybe he's right. Maybe he does need one helluva hitting coach to contain his ever growing ego and unlock his as yet unrealized potential.

The "right" way to do it would be get your thoughts in before they did the hire. And after your suggestions are ignored, be a stand-up guy and say that you'll work with Joe and you're sure everything will be great.

I think part of what makes Torii so popular in MN is a big part of wat makes him so frustrating to listen to when he says stuff like this. It's nice to hear a guy who really believes the Aw Shucks Just Playing A Game Here and doesn't see himself as a leader or the best player in the room. Minnesotans love that stuff. But when he says Ryan needs to go spend $10m on a leader instead of grabbing a baton and leading a little it makes you want to slap him.

If he gave it more than four seconds of deep thought he'd realize a couple things and be less frustrated.

1. It will be an internal/local hire. That is, Don Baylor's closet tie to the team is two months in 87, which puts him in line about thirty spots behind Terry Steinbach. This is neither good nor bad, merely an imutable fact of life in MN.

2. There are candidates that satisfy Torii's Need for Name and point #1, but both Molitor and Carew said no. If he'd shut up he might appreciate that Ryan tried to do what he suggested and it failed.

In closing I'd just like to point out that Torii is not saying anything bad about Joe's ability to do the job, just that he won't listen to him. "That's somebody I probably would respect and listen to...I'm pretty much where I'm supposed to be and I want to get better. But I'm only going to get better if I have somebody who has a track record." Very nice. Hit 30 HR or shut up and listen to the man.

Cris E
St Paul, MN