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Torii Hunter, one of the most popular players to ever put on a Twins uniform and a free agent after this season, said a lot of goodbyes Sunday, the final home game of the 2007 season.

But the Gold Glove center fielder made it very clear his first preference is to stay with the Twins and play in the new ballpark.

"That definitely is my goal, and you never know," Hunter said Sunday. "Everybody's talking about the goodbyes and different things like that. You never know, the Twins might step up and they come in and save the day. But at the same time, you've got to say your goodbyes because you never know what's going to happen.

"It's still a business, anything can happen. And it was tough, man, walking into the stadium [Sunday] ... saying goodbye to everybody that I see on my way to the clubhouse."

The Twins made a three-year, $45 million offer a couple of weeks ago, but Hunter has made it clear he is looking for at least a four-year deal.

"No, I wasn't surprised," he said about the offer. "I mean, it was a little low, but I just decided not to talk about it [at the time] because we were 4½ games out and you really don't want to talk about a contract. It's kind of selfish to talk about a contract, it's a distraction. ... I was trying to really concentrate on winning the division."

Twins will make effort

While I am convinced the Twins will make every effort to sign Hunter and will succeed, he doesn't know what the ownership is thinking. I can just see the new slogan, "Buy tickets to see Torii Hunter play in the new ballpark." His absence would make marketing tough.

"We'll just see," Hunter said. "I'm not here to talk about that contract. I want to talk about if we'll be here or not, but I have no idea what they're thinking up there. I'm not the front office. I'm my own person, I'm my own business, so we just have to see what happens."

Without a doubt Hunter is comfortable here and wants to remain a Twin. "I go home afterwards and it's like, 'Man, I do not want to go anywhere.' But you never know. Like I said, it's a business. I know it's different with Barry Bonds or whatever, we're two different personalities, two different guys. But everything comes to an end, and if they're trying to do something different, you've got to let them do it.

"I mean, this is a business and I understand that, but at the same time my heart is here in Minnesota and as a Twin. So whatever happens, man, I get to play the game of baseball no matter what, but my heart is here in Minnesota. If not, then I get to play the game, which I really love."

Not interested in Texas

Contrary to what has been reported in Texas, Hunter said he doesn't favor going to the Rangers because he lives nearby.

"That's what they say, but I don't favor Texas," he said. "My family doesn't even favor Texas, but we're just going to kind of wait and see."

The Twins close the season with a three-game series in Boston. It was suggested to Hunter that the Red Sox might try to get him interested in joining them. He has a close friendship with former Twin David Ortiz.

"I'm afraid of that wall, so don't get your hopes up," he said. "Don't get your hopes up that I'm going to get addicted to Boston, there's no chance. I'm just going to go out there and play and have some fun. I'm still with the Minnesota Twins; I'm not even thinking about that. I would love to play with David Ortiz, but David just happens to be in a crazy park. So we'll see what happens. Like I said, I'm just going to sit and watch if I'm a free agent."

He believes the Twins will still do well if he is replaced.

"The game's going to keep going on, and you're going to see some guy come up and he's going to be a stud and he's going to [help] things turn around, if that's possible," Hunter said. "Hopefully I'm here next year. I'm just saying, if I'm not, the game is going to still go on and things are going to change and you're going to see some of the young talent that you're going to fall in love with."