Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz has carved out a fantastic career with a few different teams since he debuted in the majors a decade and a half ago. As you’ll see below, it has been quite an eventful journey for a player who has gone from relatively unheralded prospect to 401-home run hitter with six All-Star nods on his resume…
Professional Entry
- The Dominican Republic native entered the pros with the Mets, who signed him as an 18-year-old amateur free agent in 1998, but he never took a professional at-bat with the franchise.
Prospect Status
- Cruz was not a leaguewide elite prospect as he climbed his way to the majors. At his best, he ranked as Baseball America’s No. 8 Brewers prospect in 2006. BA rightly wrote then that Cruz, the Brewers’ minor league player of the year, possessed “well above average raw power,” though it also expressed concern over “holes in his swing.”
Early Career Trades
- In the first of multiple trades Cruz has been involved in as a pro, the Mets sent him to the Athletics in August 2000 for infielder Jorge Velandia. However, Velandia was a nonentity in the majors for the Mets. He amassed 92 plate appearances with New York across three years and stumbled to a .149/.281/.216 line.
- Like the Mets before them, the A’s gave up on a young Cruz, but only after he spent a few years in their system. In December 2004, Oakland dealt Cruz and right-hander Justin Lehr to the Brewers for infielder Keith Ginter. Unfortunately for the A’s, Ginter mustered a weak .161/.234/.263 line over 156 PA in 2005 – his lone season with the club. As mentioned earlier, Cruz was a productive Brewers minor leaguer, though he didn’t get much of a chance in the majors as a member of Milwaukee. Cruz made eight appearances and totaled seven PA in 2005.
Headed To The Site Of His Breakout
- The Brewers traded Cruz and former slugger Carlos Lee to the Rangers for righty Francisco Cordero, lefty Julian Cordero, and outfielders Kevin Mench and Laynce Nix in July 2006. Let’s first address the non-Cruz pieces in that swap: Lee was a short-term success as a member of the Rangers, with whom he batted .322/.369/.525 with nine home runs in 260 PA. The Rangers didn’t make the playoffs, though, and Lee bolted for the Astros’ six-year, $100MM contract during the ensuing offseason. Francisco Cordero had a very nice run in Milwaukee, where he pitched to a 2.60 ERA with 11.6 K/9 and 60 saves in 90 innings from 2006-07. He left the Brewers for the Reds’ four-year, $46MM offer, which was then a record for a reliever. Julian Cordero never got past Single-A ball. Mench put up an unimpressive .256/.288/.403 line with nine HRs in 441 PA as a Brewer from 2006-07, while Nix collected a meager 61 PA with the club in parts of three seasons.
Overcoming Adversity
- In hindsight, as effective as Lee and Francisco Cordero were after this trade, Cruz emerged as the most valuable piece for either team. It just took a few more years to finally happen. Cruz got off to a brutal start as a Ranger from 2006-07, when he combined to hit a dismal .231/.279/.384 with 15 HRs in 471 trips to the plate. Discouraged, the Rangers designated Cruz for assignment at the beginning of 2008, but they retained him after he cleared waivers. Cruz went on to mash 37 home runs in the minors that year, and he chipped in a tremendous .330/.421/.609 line and seven homers in 133 major league PA. That was truly the start of a fruitful run in Texas and in the majors as a whole. From 2009-13 as a Rangers regular, Cruz piled up 135 homers, batted .272/.331/.511 and won an ALCS MVP in 2011. To be clear, though, not everything went swimmingly for Cruz in the Lone Star State. The former outfielder’s defensive limitations helped lead to a catastrophic World Series loss to the Cardinals in 2011. Two years later, Cruz was hit with a 50-game suspension stemming from the Biogenesis scandal. However, Cruz contended he only took the substance to combat helicobacter pylori, a bacterial infection that caused a 40-pound weight loss.
Trips To Free Agency
- The PED ban came at an especially inopportune time for Cruz, then a soon-to-be free agent; after rejecting the Rangers’ $14.1MM qualifying offer, he had to settle for a one-year, $8MM guarantee with the Orioles in February 2014. The move wound up as a positive for both sides, though, as Cruz rebuilt his stock as a member of a playoff team by slashing .271/.333/.525 and establishing a new career high with 40 homers.
- Cruz returned to the open market the next offseason, but he did far better that time. In what looked like a questionable move by the Mariners, they handed Cruz a four-year, $57MM guarantee. As it turned out, Cruz more than lived up to his payday in Seattle, where he truly cemented himself as an all-world offensive player. He appeared in at least 144 games in each season from 2015-18 – a 1,967-PA stretch in which he racked up 163 homers, hit .284/.362/.546 and recorded an eye-popping 147 wRC+.
- After his superb Seattle stint, Cruz reached free agency yet again prior to the 2019 campaign. And once again, the team that signed him came away happy. Cruz inked a one-year, $14.3MM guarantee with the Twins, though the pact also included a $12MM club option for 2020. Unsurprisingly, the Twins picked up that option after Cruz helped the team set an all-time single-season HR record (307) en route to 101 wins and a division title. Despite only appearing in 120 games, Cruz contributed 41 of those dingers. Pound for pound, it may have been his greatest season at the plate thus far – he registered a .311/.392/.639 line with a personal-high 163 wRC+.
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It’s not exactly common to see a player thrive under three consecutive free-agent contracts, but Cruz has managed to accomplish the feat. He’ll have an opportunity to go 4 for 4 if he becomes a free agent again next winter. Although Cruz will turn 40 on July 1, his bat’s aging like fine wine, so it would seem unwise to doubt him.
steroids are not “adversity.”
Anything is adversity if it causes problems or stands as a challenge.
Not when it’s self inflicted and done to cheat
You got caught
The Astros aren’t facing adversity. And neither is any PED suspended player
Writing 2 sentences on the actual suspension under “adversity” is pretty weak, MLBTR. He cheated. Why are you trying to hide it in a fluff piece?
Adversity can be self-caused.
If the events of the past few months have taught us anything it’s that life is nuanced and to be absolute is to be ignorant
Darkside- I read the article as one that briefly summarizes the many epoch’s in his long 22 year career. I understand Adversity to mean -“a state or instance of serious or continued difficulty.”
This article condenses a 22 yr career. A career that included a period of time where his decision to cheat made it difficult for him to ‘repair his brand’ specifically so he can secure a large FA contract. Am I missing something here? How is the fallout from his own dumb decision not adversity? I’m curious what other word should the author use to describe one moment in time in a 22 year career?
This short/no season will hurt Cruz and any other aging slugger more so than any other player.
Maybe but you could argue it could extend their career into next year. Also the short season is responsible for the NL adopting the DH a little earlier than expected. That will surely help aging sluggers extend their careers too.
It takes a lot for an athlete to get/stay on a regimen and timeline to be prepared for a season. The older you are, the tougher it is, especially when it comes to hand eye coordination and hitting a baseball. Realistically, the easiest day for an athlete should be game day meaning that their preparation should be more intense than the game. I just hope that losing half a season doesnt hinder a guy like Cruz but my gut says it will.
“…the Rangers designated Cruz for assignment at the beginning of 2008, but they retained him after he cleared waivers. Cruz went on to mash 37 home runs in the minors that year, and he chipped in a tremendous .330/.421/.609 line and seven homers in 133 major league PA. That was truly the start of a fruitful run,,,”
So what changed and led to the breakout?
Magic!
game 6 🙁
Cruz has to catch that ball with two outs in the 9th in the Series – brutal play.
I agree Cruz should have made the catch. His positioning was terrible. Truth be told he should have been replaced defensively before the Cards came up. With a two run lead in that situation you should have your best defensive players in the game. Wash made a managerial mistake by not inserting Endy Chavez into the game who was far superior to Cruz defensively. As a life long Rangers fan now in my 50’s I fear we may never get that kind of opportunity again. Damn. Hindsight though.
Brewers got fleeced in that trade with the rangers. When a closer who we only had for 1.5 years was the only thing that produced out of it….must have been a Melvin deal.
Luckily under sterns, we do a lot more of the fleecing instead of the other way around.
Cruz “took a professional AB” with the Mets organization and their Dominican Summer League team.
The Rangers soured on Cruz when he got caught in PED scandal, and decided not to appeal the decision. He was/is the kind of player that fooled a lot of people with his short compact swing. Didn’t think he could continue to generate the bat speed to reach the seats. Boy was I wrong.
When Cruz gets hot he can hit any pitcher in baseball.
His HRs have always came in bunches.
I don’t think anyone thought this would ever end.
People believed those outburst would become more rare and when he did have them they wouldn’t be so explosive.
If you combine this with him being a DH he would look closer to an Albert Pujols. Maybe 28-32 HRs.
But for whatever reason he still can hit 40 and give you production at the DH spot.
Steroids work.
Cruz has shockingly gotten better and better with age. Like not just “kind of better” he actually put up his best season last year at age 38! His OBP is the most noticeable improvement as he’s aged but even his Average and power have improved as he’s hit his mid and now late 30s… some might just say it’s “steroids” and who knows? I can’t know for sure but regardless of what the cause it is pretty impressive that he continues to improve as he approaches 40!
How dare you not take a stance on what you think or don’t think someone else is injecting into their body Jeff.
This isn’t a waffle house here, commit damn you!
He was a loved in that Baltimore clubhouse and I was extremely disappointed he wasn’t re-signed. The Orioles did get a draft pick which ended up being Ryan Mountcastle.
As a Yankee fan.. I look at him like I looked at Manny Ramirez a guy that will eventually get you. Made a mostake.. but him and Edwin.. I’d take either any day
Did he ever fail a drug test? Not saying this to defend him, it just seems like players can easily avoid failing drug tests while taking PEDs.
Great, fascinating player, Boomstick was the man!
I love how all the people who so strongly support the players now are the ones who yell the loudest at a player who (happened) to get popped-
Steroids was ALL made possible by Bud Selig. He made it so many players had to take them just too keep up. Not a single player had any chance of ending that snowballing madness, BUD DID EVERY DAY.
. Yet all the players take all the slack, and its from the same people now that want to send those poor players a hand- knitted sweater to stay warm next winter
Here’s a common day example from my dept; Sales
– Imagine your on a sales team, your assigned specific territories to greatest maximize resources for the good of the Company. This is company policy, and has been for a long time. Sales in someone else’s territory are suppose to be against the rules 100%..
Now a new Boss comes in and looks the other way to all the rules.
At first people respect moral boundaries but then word gets out “said” rule breakers are earning 2x your pay now because they are traveling into other higher stakes boundaries and there is No law. Same work, twice the pay….. Im sure all you guys are sticking to the beat though right. Lotta negativity for a great player, you gotta beef with Peds look at Selig
wtf?
So, give him four more seasons to get to 500Hrs – does that lock him in the Hall? Maybe not first ballot but 2nd or 3rd time?
He may need 650 home runs, which is to say it’s not a guarantee that he’ll get strong consideration, especially with a PED suspension and maybe how the shape of his career evolved as a late bloomer.
Look at all the HRs Sosa has and you’ll see that nobody cares how many HRs a PED user has.
Cruz has a great approach at the plate. Very aggressive until 2 strikes and then shortens his swing even more. This attitude has closed holes in his swing and made him a much more dangerous hitter. I hope he continues to mentor some of the younger Twins players like Sano and Buxton. Teaching them to look for contact with 2 strikes will make them much more dangerous, as well.
Loyal reader here. Why isn’t his PED use one of the main aspects of this article? The guy was a washout, then suddenly burst out, then gets suspended shortly thereafter. Most observers would at least wonder if there was a connection there. To not address that makes this a very poor article.