Torii Hunter agreed to a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Twins on Tuesday. Minnesota was interested in signing Hunter to a long-term deal, but the two sides were fairly far apart and wanted to complete something before the scheduled arbitration hearing. Hunter was interested in working out a contract that would allow him to stay with the organization past his free agency, which should come after the 2004 season. However, while both sides appeared amenable to a deal in the neighborhood of four years long, Hunter wanted a larger salary than the Twins were interested in paying.

Given their differences, unless Minnesota believes that Hunter is likely to alter his demands, they will likely trade the outfielder. The 26-year-old won his first Gold Glove last season and should have one for each hand by Opening Day 2003. Although an extremely talented fielder, Hunter has not been particularly strong at the plate, as he has struggled with the strike zone. Last season he showed some improvement, adding a bit of power to his repertoire, but the strikeout's still out-numbered the walks over 4 to 1 and he only had 22 more hits than K's all season.

Dennys Reyes is the first player to triumph over ownership in arbitration this season. On Tuesday, he won his case against Colorado and will be making the $900K he requested this season rather than the $700K the Rockies were offering. This was reportedly Colorado's first arbitration hearing since their introduction into the league in 1993, so perhaps they just didn't have the experience necessary to squash the opposition.

On the other hand, it may be that the Rockies ran into trouble because they chose their battle poorly. Reyes pitched effectively last season, and anything less than a million for an experienced left-handed reliever seems to be a bargain in the market these days. He should pitch well again this year, even in Colorado, and therefore earn his salary.

Scott Williamson signed a one-year, $400K contract with Cincinnati on Tuesday, the same base salary he earned in 2001. His contract also includes a possible $200K in performance incentives based on a complicated points system. The AP reports that he will receive "one point for every relief appearance, 1.6 points for every start up to 25, and 2.5 points for every start from 26 through 33." They go on to say that "he'll get a $25,000 bonus if he reaches 40 points, another $25,000 for reaching 45 points, and $50,000 each for reaching 50, 55 and 60 points."

After pitching in only two games last season, Williamson had Tommy John surgery in early April and was out for the year. He is reportedly progressing quickly in his rehab, but the normal recovery time is still 12 to 18 months. Some teams, most notably the Cardinals with Matt Morris, have had success with bringing pitchers back more easily if they restrict their use to the bullpen in the season following their return.

Given the Reds' experiments with Williamson in the bullpen before his injury, Cincinnati is likely to attempt a similar course with him. The successful recovery rate from this procedure continues to escalate, so the righty should be just fine by next season as long as the team is careful not to overwork him this year. He's probably better off not straining for some of those performance bonuses this season, in order to secure his earning potential in the future.

Jose Canseco signed a minor league contract with Montreal on Tuesday. While it's a positive step for the Expos to be signing players and I think Canseco could have great year, I am very concerned about whose at-bats he will be taking away.

Brad Wilkerson should be ready for the majors to start the season, but he will need playing time in the bigs in order to continue his development. With Canseco on the roster, I don't trust Frank Robinson to give Wilkerson the necessary commitment.

Geoff Blum will likely also see his playing time drop as a reserve outfielder. However, that's no big loss. If the competition for outfield at-bats grows too strong, Peter Bergeron could also be affected although he's both one of their only centerfielders and leadoff candidates.

Wilkerson could probably be sent to AAA to start the season and stay there through April just as a warm up with the added benefit of delaying major league service time while allowing him additional time to recover from a second straight off-season with shoulder surgery. Expos' first baseman Lee Stevens will be a free agent at the end of this year and doesn't add a whole lot to either their offense or defense. It would be interesting if Omar Minaya were to trade Stevens a month into the season for practically anything, with the thought that Canseco could then start at 1B.

Canseco was quite adamant that his performance is improved when he can play the field rather than just DH or pinch hitting, so with a full time position they should be able to get a good level of production out of him, at least comparable to the unimpressive Stevens. A Stevens/Canseco platoon at first would also emphasize each hitters' strengths.

The other concern Montreal has is the health of their third baseman. Minaya reportedly announced yesterday that Tatis had had surgery on his knees to correct the patella tendinitis that has been bothering him. Although if successful, this should mean the Expos have a more consistent third baseman, Tatis may not be ready for Opening Day. A platoon of switch-hitter Geoff Blum and left-handed Andy Tracy could provide acceptable coverage of the position in the interim period. Michael Barrett could always be used for a brief period at 3B, but he is just settling in after the bouncing around he did in 2000, and the Blum/Tracy platoon should produce a combined .800 OPS.

The Expos also signed Ed Vosberg to a minor league contract on Tuesday. Vosberg has basically no chance of making the Opening Day roster with Graeme Lloyd and Scott Stewart on the team. However, if either lefty becomes injured during the course of the season, Vosberg should be in line to pick up their innings.