MINNEAPOLIS -- If the Yankees decide after this season they want Torii Hunter robbing home runs for them instead of from them, he may be available and seems willing to listen.
Last off-season, the Yankees discussed acquiring Hunter from the Minnesota Twins before eventually signing Johnny Damon to a four-year, $52 million deal. And while Damon is an improvement over Bernie Williams in center field, Hunter (who could be a free agent if the Twins decline a $12 million option for 2007) has won five straight Gold Gloves.
It would seem plausible the Yankees, should they decline their option on Gary Sheffield, would make room for Hunter by asking Damon to move to a corner.
Hunter showed what he can do in the fifth inning last night, running to the fence and leaping to take a homer from Andy Phillips.
A few hours earlier, Hunter said he heard reports of the Yankees' interest last winter, and while he declined to express out-and-out interest in the Bronx, reading between the lines, he seemed to think it would be a good fit.
"I'm still with the Twins," he said, "but as a kid, that's all you knew: 'Yankees.' So when you think the Yankees are after you, you're like, 'Wow. That's cool.' But I'm still committed to the Twins."
Hunter, who has been with Minnesota since the Twins drafted him in the first round in 1993, has told the team he wants to see a long-term commitment to winning before deciding whether to stay.
"It could be ... my last season with the Twins," he admitted. "We'll see what happens.
"Anywhere else would be foreign to me. I was born and raised a Twin. All I've known is Minnesota Twins baseball. But if they're willing to go young and start over, I can't be a part of that."