Is We Glad Torii is a Halo?

Are we glad Torii Hunter went cross town? You betcha'! Only yesterday we opined that signing a past 30 player to a multi year mega bucks deal has a more than even chance to have a team with an old player, with old legs, slower bat speed, etc., eating up too big a chunk of a team's payroll.

That's exactly what the Angels have done. In those five years Hunter got, he will be 37 (or older). $90 million. Purely obscene. A hangover from Scott Boras who plays with monopoly money not knowing it's your hard earned cash.

If the Dodgers had swung the same deal, we'd have thrown up our hands to the heavens for relief.

Hunter moves from an indoor hitters paradise to a pitchers park. Will he average 30 homers a year for the next five years? Ain't no way!

Maybe once, twice even, but no more than that. As you get on the sunny side of 35, the legs begin to go. Will Hunter roam center after 35 as before, or will he be like Alice in Wonderland running faster and faster to stay where you are? 

Jeff Kent can play standing still at second, particularly with wide ranging Rafy Furcal on one side and equally wide ranging James Loney on the other - but you can't play center field standing still. When 37 year old Torii Hunter is still getting 18 million per, Matt Kemp will still be only 29, three years younger than Hunter already is now.

By the way, Jeff 'Stationary' Kent ought to go right out and buy many holiday gifts for Loney forthwith. Should Loney decide to only cover a normal first baseman's zone of influence, Kent would surely be more embarrassing than his defense or lack thereof already is. Kent shouldn't care if Loney is 10 years old or 20 or 30 just as long as he is protected. 

As the King of Spain said to Hugo Chavez: "why don't you shut up!"

Now after the Dodgers suddenly got very, very lucky by dodging the temptation to latch onto Hunter, our holiday prayer is that they are equally fortunate in avoiding the urge to even look at .230 hitting Andre Jones, who faded last year faster than a speeding bullet.

The last time the Dodgers went old, really old for position players and won was way back in 1941 - but then the Dodgers could get geezers for a pigs foot and a bottle of beer.

Joe Torre, you don't know how lucky you just got. When you sit down for the holiday turkey, pray for more of the same.

They say Torre much prefers seasoned veteran players. Huh? Last year the Yanks were mired in oblivion before he replace the seasoned veteran Johnny Damon with much younger Melky Cabrera in center.

His antiquated pitching staff was getting him no place and the Yankees turnaround began when they went young for pitchers.  Maybe it was Brian Cashman's call, but Torre did pretty darned good with the kids.