Oct. 1: Asked about Cruz’s comments today, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Park: “The feeling is mutual. We don’t feel any differently than Nellie does. We see a fit for him here, and we’re hopeful that can work out.”
It’s worth noting that GM Thad Levine said back in January that the two sides discussed a new deal. Such business is typically completed in Spring Training, though, and the league’s shutdown and ensuing transactions freeze surely impacted negotiations. Cruz’s camp will undoubtedly be very interested to see whether the 2020 advent of the universal DH becomes a permanent rule change, as that would open up a whole new list of potential suitors. If nothing else, that could create negotiating leverage even if Cruz is intent on a third season in Minnesota.
Sept. 30: Twins superstar designated hitter Nelson Cruz may have played his final game with the team Wednesday in a season-ending defeat against the Astros. If the pending free agent has it his way, though, he’ll remain with the Twins.
“Hopefully, I’ll be back next year,” Cruz said after the Astros swept the Twins in a best-of-three series, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com tweets.
Despite yet another all-too-early playoff exit, it’s hard to believe the Twins won’t do everything within reason to retain Cruz. They signed the former Rangers, Orioles and Mariners slugger to a one-year, $14.3MM guarantee with a 2020 option back in January ’19, and he has continued to be a source of nightmares for opposing pitchers since then. After Cruz turned in another dominant season in his only guaranteed year of the deal, the Twins made the easy decision to pick up a $12MM club option last winter.
Cruz, despite having turned 40 in July, repaid the Twins with what may have been the best regular season of his career. He wound up with a career-high 164 wRC+ (tied with Mike Trout for the majors’ seventh-best mark among qualified hitters) and a .303/.397/.595 line with 16 home runs across 214 plate appearances. Cruz hasn’t finished any season with a worse wRC+ than 133 since 2013, so it’s hard to imagine that his production will suddenly fall off a cliff in the near future. And age will limit Cruz’s earning power as heads toward another trip to free agency, which should increase the Twins’ chances of re-signing him to a reasonably priced short-term pact.
“I am so excited to watch the Astros-Twins series today, I see an Astros upset coming, but I want to see (what I think will be) the Kenta Maeda and Jose Urquidy matchup. That series, the Marlins-Cubs, the Indians-Yankees, and the Reds-Braves are all going to have my eyes glued on them.”
That’s a quote of mine from the “Twins Set Wild Card Series Roster; Buxton Active, Donaldson Out” article the other day. Give me my money lol.
“Nothing like quoting oneself.” —Me
No, really, glad you’re excited about the games today. It’s really cool that Manfred and others were able to make this season happen.
First of all pointing out your previous post is sad. Not to mention it’s a best of three series which is a total roll of the dice
Nothing suspicious about a guy aged 35-40 hitting more home runs than anyone else in baseball the last 5 seasons.
especially one that has had a positive PED test before…these tests are too random for my liking.
Did he have a positive test? I think he was linked to Biogenesis.
He’s a cheater. He has shown to have morally challenged. If he could get away with it, there is every reason to believe he’d do it again. There are teams that won’t sign a known cheater.
Twins don’t seem to care. There are others.
He was linked to Biogenisis but I don’t think he failed a test.
He could go to Boston. They love 40 year old roid cheats. Name streets after them.
“There are teams that won’t sign a known cheater.”
That’s incorrect. Every team had juicers and they all knew about it. If Mike Trout was a free agent and failed a test every single team would want him.
That’s an awfully high horse you’re sitting on.
Teams have had juicers, but not every team has signed a known juicer.
Huge difference.
And if Mike Trout took PEDS, I wouldn’t want him. That’s me. I Don’t draft them on my fantasy team either, and I acknowledge I’m in the minority.
Blah blah blah. The guy has raked for years AFTER his suspension and AFTER his swing change. I honestly could care less if players used PEDs or not to be honest.
JD Goat, are you talking to me?
Have we really come to the point in society where calling a cheater a cheater is sitting on a high horse?
He has stole outs from pitchers, playoff shares from players and stole wins from fans.
He’s a thief. So saying that is sitting on a high horse? Wow.
M Haworth..
“I honestly could care less if players used PEDs or not to be honest.”
That’s OK, that doesn’t have to bother you, but it does bother some people and it’s understandable it bothers some people.
agreed
Let’s face it, @halo11fan.
The biggest reason everyone has a spittle spraying hissy fit in regards to PEDs is due to baseball writers pushing that narrative. PEDs have been in baseball for a long time, man.
Turn of the century players liked a little cocaine when they played. Let’s not forget the legendary “greenies” which were standard locker room fare for decades, man.
Now we have this group of writers most of whom were probably chosen last on the playground deciding to be morality cops.
The absolute best players of my generation have been shut out of the HOF by the same fecking guys who elected Bud Selig – who absolutely knew what was transpiring.
You can’t have it both ways.
I realize this is an unpopular take. But I challenge you froth mouthed maniacs screaming from your faulty based pedestals to engage in some basic research and dare to form your *own* opinion.
I played football and baseball in the 80’s, man. Gear was widespread. I’m not saying I did anything. I’m also not saying I didn’t.
I can tell you this, however. Absolutely no one was looking at it as “cheating”. It was an effort – for better or worse – to merely be the best player you could possibly be.
(packs up soapbox)
Halo – California would rather pay for illegals health care than their own citizens….and have safe zones for criminal illegal aliens….Boston’s offensive is less IMO
Can’t wait to leave this f…ed up state, but would not want live in Boston either (too cold, bad traffic, and almost as expensive as stupid California)
Oh just shut up (man) Halo !
Yes Halo Im talking to you
Nice post Ducky!
Im guessing you did do it based off calling it gear
Oh.
Yeah, @raindelay
Ummmm….
(blinkblink)
bucky dent, greenies just make a person nervous. Not an enhancer.
Cross tops, beenies, whites, greenies are all nerve stimulators. Not performance. They keep you awake. They make a person twitchy. Hardly
a remedy for relaxation which is sought in baseball. To compare roids to
crosstops or greenies is beyond lame. Juss say’n.
4wssince? what a cry baby. Man up or shut up. And this pandamit is for everyone.
To further Mr Dent, Im totally on the same page with you on Selig (The first ballot Hof’er)
Its a complete travesty we are hanging Bonds and Co for his actions or lack thereof and Im a Dodgers fan. Bud was the face of Steroids NOT Canseco, not Bonds and if anyone should fry its him-
Now on the matter of the sauce….Its 150 million % cheating if your playing against players who are not.. For those of you that have never tryed them (and good for you) you’ll never really understand how much of an impact they make, you just cant with words, I know you try to formulate stances but if you’ve never been on them its hard to fully understand the whole argument – Ive known people who have done them (over and over) just for the confidence and mentals not even sports or muscles –
It truly is a shame they have such bad side affects. I know this will sound bad but if gear was clean and everybody was juiced the level of play we would see in all sports would truly blow our minds night in and night out
I dont endorse steroids at all in fact in most cases condone them 100% but as someone who has done a couple cycles I really think we have a bit of a clearer idea than most on how they should be classified past present, future than those who havent-
Beg to disagree, @cevildawg.
They definitely enhance concentration & stamina.
I do like that we’re having an actual dialogue about this. I re-read my post…I might’ve been a bit over the top.
But, the blatant hypocrisy in electing Selig while Bonds, Arod, Clemens, et al sit & watch really rankles for me.
Hat tip, @rain delay, for the honesty & insight.
Ya know…I’m actually pro PEDs, man. I’d like to see these guys work with physicians, & take the manufacturing process out of China (heavy metals).
I’m pretty sure I don’t need to convince you of the reality that the NFL is riddled with the use of T. Look…you don’t get flagged in the NFL if your sample doesn’t exceed a T count of 25(!).
C’mon.
The only doctor I know is Dr McGillicuddy & even *he* knows what’s going on there.
his tests aren’t exactly random as a result of his suspension.
even though it was because of the biogenesis deal (so he didn’t test dirty), still falls under current rules, which at last check means he gets extra tests per season (and i think a few off season ones as well).
he’s looking at 1 year suspension at this point (a career ender at his age), so either he’s clean or he’s somehow managed to find something for the past 8 years to test clean.
The testing is much better now though. More guys get busted.
The dude goes out and hits day in and day out, he mentors younger players in the off-season, and takes Roids. Recipe for success.
I like Cruz, and I hope he doesn’t, but it does stand out.
Since no one can complain about trashcan banging in the empty Minnesota stadium people are going to complain about Cruz’s alleged steroid usage. Complaining people will always find something to complain about.
Obvious roid cheat is obvious. That’s all I’m saying. Been saying it about Cruz for years.
halosheven- So you are the guy who has been saying that stuff for years?
It’s not alleged. He didn’t even deny it or try to fight it.
It was HGH, not steroids.
Very much share this sentiment. Very suspicious.
Your jealous you can’t at 20
Halos Heaven.. Maybe the one time, or forty times, then quiting the drugs makes them better for a long time? To bad Cruz has that blimish. He does though. Which makes him a cheater, like the astos, and we do not forget. Hell the forgiving part is easy. Millions of dollars. No hall for him. Though he does have all the problems of having a lot of money. There is a shame he shares with all the roiders and all the astos. For life. I’m sure there is an old saying. Which escapes me now as i think i might be having a flashback?
Come back to Seattle!
Seattle…..only franchise to never be in a World Series…….must not have cheated enough……lol
What a great walking advertisement for PEDs, basically a fringe talent who suddenly becomes one of the best power hitters of his generation in his mid-30s. He wasn’t even an average hitter until he was almost 30.
Over a $100 million earned, totally worth it.
PEDs don’t help with hand-eye coordination.
I want you to go onto Youtube whenever you get a chance, and go to Momentum (Trevor Bauer’s) channel. On there he does a series called Bauer Bytes. Each Wednesday it is uploaded, and they are 30 minutes of whatever three guests he has, and himself just talking about baseball. One of the episodes has Kenny Lofton on it, and he explained why he thinks that PED’s are worst than the Astros cheating scandal. Even if you don’t like Bauer, I’d go watch that video. It’s interesting what he thinks of it.
I am not saying PEDs are good. I am saying that they don’t help with hand eye-coordination.
I know you’re not saying they’re good in a integrity standpoint, I just recommended the video because Lofton actually goes into how it can help your hand eye coordination plus much more.
Steroids 100% help with eye sight, though. And that’s a huge component in baseball.
They don’t help with hand eye coordination, but they help with bat speed and strength.
Swing a hammer and hit a spot. Now swing a sledge hammer. You’ll have more accuracy with the hammer.
Focus and thus, hand-eye coordination suffer when a player is fatigued. One of the benefits of PEDs is, they help the body stave off or avoid fatigue and allow players to recover more quickly during the course of a season.
::Fart Sound::
———————————–
“PEDs don’t help with hand-eye coordination.”
They most definitely do, it’s been scientifically proven long ago.
There is no way steroids help that much.
Ask McGwire, Sosa and Bonds. Palmeiro, Thome, Bagwell and A-Rod. Canseco. Pujols?
Cruz has not been tied to steroids.
PEDs. They are all under the umbrella PEDs. As with Ortiz, no way Cruz has his age 40 season without PEDs.
Thome didn’t take PED’s. Stop
You don’t have a 21 year career as a professional hitter with over 600 home runs and take PED’s.
Well, A Rod did have a 22 year career and was a juicer. Haha. My bad!
But there is no evidence against Thome as a juicer. I guess because it’s the “guilt by association” because he was in that era. But the guy continued to produce way past the steroid era. Class act and a deserving HOFer
Ooof? Duh.
Twins have Larnach, Kirilloff, and Rooker who may be able to start or appear for the Twins in 2021. I dont see Cruz being brought back, especially with Sano’s defensive shortcomings .
Good points about Cruz not being brought back. However, Sano has offensive shortcomings as well, so they do need more bats!
“Steroids are a hell of a drug”
– Rick James, probably
The Lance Armstrong 30 for 30 would’ve been a lot more interesting if he said that.
Loved steroids (prednisone) when I had pneumonia…..worked great….can I please have more…..lol
If he can hold on for 3 more years he has an outside shot at 500 bombs.
This is one of those weird cases where the foreign born player is actually a lot younger than what his birth certificate said.
Cruz needed to get signed and make some money for his sick mother, but he was too young to get signed, so he got a fake birth certificate. Instead of being 20 when he was signed by Oakland, he was actually 12.
Cruz’s real age is 32, not 40, and is just started to leave the prime of his career.
Then he looks horrible for 32. Or maybe he had surgery to age his face. Yeah, that’s it. The internet is fun.
When you’re 12 and you look 20, won’t you look 40 when you look 32?
I think what you wrote was a joke, so I took it as being very funny.
I was impressed. I laughed, but in a good way.
For everyone else it was a joke, for you, I was being serious.
Briffle? Outstanding.
Off topic just a bit, but just heard from my Season Ticket Sales Rep that there will be 11,500 (25% capacity) fans allowed to attend each game for the NLDS, NLCS, and WS. Tickets go on sale October 6th to the general public.
From the CDC.
CDC: new COVID survival rates. If you are younger than 50… The death rate is .02%..
The flu estimated death rate is .01- .02%
This is why I say this has become political. It become a political talking point.
By the way, if you are over 70 and you catch this, all things being equal, the odds of dying are 1 out of 20. So if your are in your 70s, don’t go. I’m in my 60s, which is about 1 in 200, and I wouldn’t go.
I’ve been saying since lockdowns started here (Philippines) it’s ridiculous. Around 3,000 deaths so far from covid yet 25,000+ every year from tuberculosis, only now I need to wear mask+full face shield. I really wanted to go watch an Olympic baseball game
Maybe you should be glad they took it seriously while it was still at only 3,000? If we’d done that in the States, we’d be in a vastly better situation.
Also, more than one thing can be bad. Tuberculosis is bad. Covid is bad.
TLA – So it was you who was sayin’.
Death isn’t the only bad outcome, and players travelling and congregating in big groups isn’t strictly a risk to the players. They’re increasing exposure possibilities for other people. Add in fans and it’s more unnecessary risk.
Downplaying the seriousness of a pandemic that’s killed this many people and won’t have a viable, widely distributed vaccine any time soon is more conniving and political than anything you’re decrying.
Another genius that assumes if you don’t die, it doesnt affect you long term
And also minimizes hundreds of thousands of unnecessary death. These people weren’t on deaths door. Most had freakin diabetes. Like… millions of other Americans?
Stop minimizing death so you can feel good about not caring. It’s a bad look Halo
It’s embarrassing that they are going to play the WS in the Shed on national television. Hopefully the teams playing there complain about it playing big, and maybe we could change some things to help the ball travel better in there.
The exterior is not very “appealing” to the eye. Looks like a cross between the Goodyear Blimp hangar, and a Home Depot Tuff Shed.
Yep, though I do want to go to a game next season, to see the inside of course. I like the arches out in left field, but besides that the stadium just doesn’t seem to have any character. Maybe my opinion will change by seeing it in person. There were also reports a few years ago that said that it would’ve cost just as much to put a roof on Globe Life Park (don’t know how true that is), but at this point, I’d rather that.
It is pretty nice inside. We got to go in early March to season ticket holder open house to see the inside, and our seats.
Globe Life Park was nice, but outside in July-August for day games……MISERABLE!!
likely wasn’t as expensive, but at that point, you’d be spending a ton for a stadium over 20 years old (and not like you’d be able to just take the roof to the new place) so it might have been most cost effective to build a new one with a roof instead.
There are some pretty quirky angles down the lines and at the wall in the power alleys. Since the AL West and NL West teams have played there, might be a slight advantage against any Central or East teams. That is of course if the Al West and or the NL West team is in WS.
I think the main thing I don’t like about the new park is the camera angle from center field. It is directly over the head of the pitcher, and IMO I think that it looks better at a closer angle (like it was in GLP).
I see another one year plus an option year. Why not? He’s been one of the best hitters in the league.
Is Cruz a Hall of Famer?
No, his career OPS is below .900, he doesn’t have 500 HR, doesn’t even have 2K hits, let alone the usual 3K that’s considered a HOF milestone, WAR around 40, and is a below average fielder, taking away some of his bat’s value. Hall of Very Good, but not Hall of Fame.
Baseballs Tom Brady
Minus a few really important wins.
No way. Cruz isn’t best of best.
At his age Cruz is year to year so a one-year contract is certainly feasible for the Twins.
Pretty amazing what Cruz has accomplished for a guy who was in pro ball for a full decade, traded three times, and the throw-in with Carlos Lee all before even becoming a regular. People are welcome to dismiss him because of his PED links and suspension, but even if he had tested positive (which he didn’t), it’s not like most guys who’ve definitely taken PEDs accomplish nearly what he has. You can dislike him, but it’s a striking career.
Mets trade Alonso and Cruz becomes the perfect replacement to DH with Canó
The moment Donaldson was signed was the moment the Twins had to close the Nelson Cruz chapter after this season. Donaldson has too many years, too much money tied to him and too many calf issues to be a fulltime 3B. Donaldson needs to DH and he cannot do that with Cruz around. That is unfortunate because Cruz continues to perform at the plate.