You brought up a lot of good points, but I have to disagree with this. While Sicatoka based his reasoning on Hunter's offense (protecting Morneau), you have ignored his defense.
That's where he will be lost. Just as Santana is undeniably the best pitcher in baseball right now, Hunter is arguable the best fielding center fielder.
How many games would the Twins have lost in past years had Hunter not made the spectacular plays that he routinely made?
Never once did Hunter (at least not reported) give a dollar value that he wanted out of a contract. He said over and over, though, that he wanted five years. The Twins never offered him five years at any dollar value, so he passed.