MINNEAPOLIS -- Torii Hunter has learned one great lesson over the past couple of days: even an innocent gesture can sometimes cause problems.

The Twins center fielder was the focus of quite a bit of attention on Tuesday afternoon due to four champagne bottles. It was those champagne bottles that Hunter had sent to the Royals clubhouse this past Sunday as a payoff of a statement that he had made last September.

The promise by Hunter to deliver champagne to the Royals came after the Twins had won the American League Central Division title thanks to some help from the Royals who swept a three-game series with Detroit.

But on Monday, it was discovered that Hunter's willingness to pay off a bet violated a little-known baseball rule, No. 21-b. The rule states, "Any player or person connected with a Club who shall offer or give any gift or reward to a player or person connected with another Club for services rendered ... in defeating or attempting to defeat a competing Club ... shall be declared ineligible for not less than three years."

The rule violation first came to light when it was written about on a blog titled "The Cheater's Guide to Baseball Blog."

And despite Hunter saying that his intentions were nothing but innocent, the gesture has thus brought an onslaught of attention to the center fielder.

"They are trying to turn something good into something bad," Hunter said of the rule being brought into question. "It was meant to be fun -- funny really. It had nothing to do with me cheating or point shaving. It's crazy, man. I can't believe I'm caught up in this."

An investigation was put into Hunter's actions, but all the concern about the impact of Hunter's gesture appears to be much for naught.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan said that he was indeed contacted by the Commissioner's Office on Monday afternoon after the issue was first brought to light. Soon afterward, the Twins contacted the Royals, who agreed to send all four bottles of unopened Dom Perignon back to Minnesota.

So as far as Ryan is concerned, the issue is now a dead one.

"They told us to confiscate the champagne and we did," Ryan said. "So I think we're good."

For Hunter, all this talk has been a bit much to take, especially considering the nature of his intent.

"I'm still in shock," Hunter said. "It was actually innocent, and nobody should get in trouble for this. It shouldn't be a big deal. It shouldn't be an issue right now, but I guess it is."