Detroit Tigers and Torii Hunter Split After 2 Seasons

After resigning DH Victor Martinez to four more years the Detroit Tigers have decided to cut ties with outfielder Torii Hunter. When the Tigers acquired OF Anthony Gose from the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade Prior it was hard seeing them resigning Hunter.

Hunter spent only two seasons with the Detroit Tigers. While in Detroit, Torii Hunter was named to one All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger in 2013 while helping the team to the playoffs. General manager Dave Dombrowski spoke about the situation at a press conference following the announcement of Martinez’s new deal.

"“I said, it doesn’t look like it’s going to fit. He understood.”"

A fan favorite, the 39 year-old Hunter still wants to play on a daily basis according to Dombrowski. Hunter hit .295 with 83 RBIs and 17 Home runs this season. It is likely that Hunter will find a place to play this season, yet now the Tigers will have a spot to fill. That spot will have to be filled by either signing a player or finding someone from the inside.

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Come the start of the season, Rajai Davis will more than likely be a starter, and barring no one else stands out in spring training, Gose will likely be a starter as well. So who is your third guy in the outfield? Staying in house seems like the logical way to go about this situation. The Tigers have J.D. Martinez, Ezequiel Carrera and prospect Steven Moya (who in reality may need more time in the minors before making the big show). After the season J.D. Martinez had they could move him to play right field and then have Carrera and Moya, or whoever makes the roster after spring training, be a back up.

The only reason I say stay in house for filling the outfield spot is the amount of talent the Tigers have given away just to fill in one infield position, that being shortstop. There has been Alex Gonzalez, Jose Iglesias, and Eugenio Suarez just to name a few who have been the revolving door that has been the shortstop position the past two seasons. Iglesias we obtained by giving up one of our best outfield prospects Avisial Garcia. While the team doesn’t have Garcia anymore, the team does have players who can fill that void left by Hunter, so use them. Finding someone to fill that spot at least for the first few weeks of the season from somewhere in the organization would be nice and can be done.

Hunter himself loved Detroit as much as the fans loved him the past two seasons.