The Yankees are interested in Torii Hunter

Nick Swisher is a free agent and is likely going to command a multi-year deal. Torii Hunter is also a free agent and, at age 37, is likely to command a shorter deal. Ergo:

The Yankees have interest in Torii Hunter, a source said. Hunter is unlikely to get a qualifying offer, so he wouldn’t cost a draft pick.

— Mark Feinsand (@BloggingBombers) November 1, 2012

Hunter had a nice season in 2012, hitting .311/.365/.451 with 16 homers and 92 RBI. While he isn’t the defensive genius he once was, he’s still quite good on a corner and is known as one of the best clubhouse/character/media guys in the game. If the Yankees went for him instead of making a run at keeping Swisher, they’d have better outfield defense at the expense of not having a guy who could cover first base like Swisher can.

I think most teams would love to have Hunter on a one or a two-year deal.

Minor League Baseball announced on Wednesday that, for the 14th consecutive season, the league has eclipsed 40 million in total attendance. 20 teams set single-game attendance records and seven teams set franchise records for single-game attendance in their current parks.

ESPN’s Keith Law, who has been covering the minor leagues for quite a while, did the math:

Attendance at minor league games in 2018 topped 40 million. Minor league teams don't pay player salaries, so that's almost all pure profit. But even at an average ticket price of $5, that's over $30,000 per minor league player, 4-5 times what A-ball players make.

— keithlaw (@keithlaw) September 19, 2018

Minor League Baseball president and CEO Pat O’Conner, whose most prominent stint in the public eye involved him disingenuously justifying the underpaying of his players, said, “Minor League Baseball continues to be the best entertainment value in sports, and these numbers support that. For us to top 40 million fans for the 14th consecutive season despite the weather challenges our teams faced in April and May is a testament to the continued support of our loyal fan bases and the creative promotions and hard work done by all of our teams across the country.”

Major and Minor League Baseball are quite happy to make money hand over fist on the backs of their players, but are too cheap to pay them adequately for their labor.

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