Torii Hunter to the Tigers

Daddy Warbucks does it again.

With today's signing of Torii Hunter, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch once more shows the baseball world that he is willing to do anything - and by that I mean pay anything - to bring a World Series to Detroit.

Hunter (seen right), visited Detroit on Monday and was inked to a 2yr/$26 million deal by early Wednesday. Coming off a season in which he hit a career-high .313 with the Angels, many people still feel that the Tigers paid too much to bring him to Motown.

Now age 37, Hunter is a .277 career hitter with 14-years of experience at the major league level; playing for both Minnesota and most recently the Angels. With the return of Victor Martinez in 2013, who missed the entire 2012 season with a torn ACL, placing Hunter in the two spot next season behind Austin Jackson will on paper make the Tigers 1-6 line-up the most dangerous in the AL, and arguably even the majors (Jackson, Hunter, Cabrera, Fielder, Martinez, and Dirks).

 Also, having won nine career Gold Gloves, Hunter is a perfect fit defensively to fill into that corner outfield position for the Tigers. A position in which Detroit spent all of 2012 searching for some stability.

What makes this Tigers organization so intriguing is that they realize what city their team plays in.

With the exception of hockey, Detroit is not, and has never been, a hot ticket destination for big name free agents. Ilitch and GM Dave Dombrowski (seen left), both know that the only way to bring names like Prince Fielder and Torii Hunter to Detroit is to overpay.

I do have to agree with some of the critics. Overpaying players doesn't guarantee a championship by any means. But if you've watched the New York Yankees over the past 20 or so years, you know that it sure helps. Since 1996, the Yankees have made 10 trips to the ALCS and won seven World Series titles. More than any other team in baseball during that time span.

Detroit's early aggressiveness this offseason may be a sign of things to come. In 2012, the Tigers shed over $20 million in payroll with the departures of  Jose Valverde, Delmon Young, and Brandon Inge.

This puts a little more cash into the pockets of an owner who seemingly has no price limit.