New Twins manager Paul Molitor was a big booster of bringing Torii Hunter back to the club.

"When [Hunter's] name first came up, after I was named [manager], I jumped all over the opportunity to express my desire to do everything we could to get him here," Molitor said about Hunter, who signed as a free agent with the Twins on Wednesday.

"We knew that Torii had multiple opportunities, and we were hoping that his desire to come back and finish his career where he started would be an appealing factor to him, then also having a chance to 'produce fruit,' as Torii says, and be an influence on young players. So we knew we had an opportunity, and potentially a chance, I'm just very happy it all fell into place."

What does Molitor think Hunter's role will be this season?

"He's going to bring a lot," Molitor said. "Obviously one of our needs heading into the offseason was a corner outfielder, particularly looking for a righthanded-hitting outfielder that could play the corners, and Torii fit that."

Molitor, like Hunter, signed with the Twins as a free agent when he was 39 years old, in 1996. That season he hit .341, led the American League in hits with 225 and finished 13th in the MVP voting, so he thinks Hunter can contribute a lot.

"I think he has a lot left," Molitor said. "I don't like to talk about myself very much, but I had to remind him that when I was 39 I came back to Minnesota and things went pretty well. I think sometimes the mind is the most challenging thing that we need to overcome as we get older, and I'm grateful that he has a strong mind. I still believe that he thinks he can play and produce and be a valuable part of our team both in production as well as the leadership aspect.

"Also, with the young team that we have, we certainly welcome veteran presence, people who know how to approach the game day in and day out that can bring leadership to our team. When you consider all the assets that Torii has, the experience that he has, I couldn't be more excited about having the opportunity to have him on my team."

Salary no problem

Is it a concern that Hunter signed a contract for $10.5 million, the third-highest salary on the team?

"It was a negotiation," Ryan said. "Any time you have a free agent and there's competition you never know where it's going to lead you. But in our mind we ended up doing a contract that was fair, and in Torii's mind he believed it was fair, so that ultimately allowed us to sign him."

Will the contract limit Ryan in trying to sign other free agents?

"No, we're still in decent shape. We still have payroll flexibility," Ryan said.

Ryan added that any other free agents signed will be pitchers because he felt the team was in decent shape around the diamond.

Tigers made no offer

Hunter said that the Tigers didn't make any effort to bring him back but that he had offers from the Mariners, Orioles, Rangers and Royals.

"I just kind of wanted to finish here," Hunter said. "I think I was keen on that. I was sold on that."

How did Hunter view his season last year in Detroit?

"I had a pretty good year, decent year," he said. "Any time you hit over .280, and hit 17 [home runs], over 80 RBIs, in the two hole, hitting second, I definitely think that's a pretty good year."

Hunter said that he believes he can still produce and that the Twins think the same thing.

"You're only as good as your last year," Hunter said. "You don't get contracts on what they think you can do. They only give you contracts for what you've done."

Interestingly, Hunter played with Molitor, had him as a coach — Molitor coached baserunning for the Twins in 2003 — and now will play with him as a manager.

Knight likes Pitino

Bobby Knight, who has worked on broadcasts of three of the Gophers' seven games this season, including their 84-69 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday, said he watched head coach Richard Pitino in practice and liked what he saw.

"I thought Minnesota is doing well," Knight said. "I think that boy has them going in the right direction. I watched him at practice, Pitino, and I thought he did a good job in his preparation at practice. I was impressed with him. But I think they make a huge mistake in playing these weak teams from now on until they play a Big Ten game."

Knight talked about why he always liked to have a strong nonconference schedule.

"We would play like Western Kentucky or Bowling Green or Butler when we played our nonconference games, though we played Kentucky every year, Louisville, Notre Dame," Knight said. "We … always had at least one really good team in the tournament when we had our two Christmas tournaments."

On Wednesday, Knight talked about what he's seen from the Gophers.

"They played well last night," Knight said. "They played at both ends, and the one kid [Andre Hollins, 7-for-10 on three-pointers] shot the three really well. They have a little bit of depth. I thought they handled Wake Forest pretty good last night."

Jottings

• Apparently former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who will get paid his salary for next year if he doesn't manage another team, has not made a decision whether he'll take an executive job with the Twins. "He was kind of waiting for who the manager was named and so forth," General Manager Terry Ryan said. "Now that that's in place we'll talk to him again and see exactly what his future is." Asked if he would be back, Ryan said: "I don't know. It's up to him. He's going to be welcome."

• Gannon Sinclair, who played tight end at Eden Prairie, received honorable mention on the Missouri Valley all-conference team. Sinclair, who started his collegiate career at North Dakota State College of Science and transferred to Missouri State two years ago, finished his senior season with 18 receptions for 258 yards and seven touchdowns.

• The Timberwolves plan to recognize Jerry Kill for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year at their game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 14. Kill said he will attend.

• The Wild are in fifth place in the Central Division and ninth in the Western Conference through Wednesday, but the sharps in Vegas like the team's odds to compete for the Stanley Cup. Bovada Sportsbook has the Wild at 16-1 odds to win the title, ninth best in the NHL. … The Wolves, who opened the season at 300-1 odds to win the NBA title, have fallen to 1,000-1, second worst in the NBA, leading only the Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia beat the Wolves on Wednesday for its first victory.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on 830-AM at 7:40, 8:40 and 9:20 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. shartman@startribune.com