The Twins and Nelson Cruz have expressed mutual interest in extending their relationship, although it sounds as though that could require a multi-year offer out of Minnesota. LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that Cruz is “believed to be seeking a two-year deal” as he sits on the cusp of a return trip to the open market.
That the 40-year-old Cruz hopes to play another two years is notable in and of itself, although that doesn’t register as a huge surprise given his continued production at the plate. Cruz posted a superlative .303/.397/.595 slash with 16 home runs as the Twins’ DH in 2020 and has raked at a .308/.394/.626 clip overall since signing in Minnesota prior to the 2019 season. That contract was a one-year, $14.3MM deal with a club option for 2020. In total, he’s banked $26MM in his two years with the Twins.
At present, the uncertainty surrounding the universal DH keeps Cruz’s market fairly small. He’s played just nine games in the field since Opening Day 2017 and never played the outfield for the Twins. As such, Cruz would need an AL club with a win-now mindset, DH at-bats to spare and a willingness to spend. The Twins certainly fit that bill, as do the division-rival White Sox, and there’s an easy case that the Blue Jays could slot Cruz in at DH over Rowdy Tellez.
Looking around the rest of the league, most clubs either have an expensive name in their DH mix (Khris Davis, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton), a younger option at DH (Yordan Alvarez) or are simply in a rebuilding phase. And with revenue losses from the absence of fans hitting all 30 clubs, some teams just won’t want to spend the type of money Cruz would command anyhow. On the surface there’s little reason to expect that he’d have to take a pay cut in terms of annual salary; his production with the Twins actually outpaced his final couple years in Seattle.
Of course, if the MLBPA and the league agree to implement a designated hitter in both leagues, Cruz’s market would expand immensely. Nearly any National League contender would be able to make space to install a bat this potent in its everyday lineup, and the two-year term would become much easier to envision. From that standpoint, one could argue that the Twins would be best-served to proactively move to keep Cruz in the fold. Alternatively, if they’re skeptical the universal DH will be implemented in 2021, perhaps they’d hold firm at one year to avoid the risk of locking themselves into what would be Cruz’s age-42 season in 2022.
Neal suggests that Cruz may simply wait to sign until some clarity on the DH front is gained, although at this point there’s still no indication as to when that will be. His situation is far from the only one impacted by that still-unknown outcome, however. We’ve already heard GMs in San Diego, San Francisco, Atlanta and other NL cities comment publicly on the difficulty of constructing a roster without knowing for certain whether they’ll have those DH at-bats available. Padres GM A.J. Preller indicated last week that the NL DH status could impact their decision on Mitch Moreland’s club option. Both Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi and Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos have referenced uncertainty regarding the DH as an offseason challenge in the past week as well.
Both MLB and MLBPA want the universal DH. Hard for me to believe it’s not here to stay. But clearly GM’s need to know and need to know soon.
Although both sides may want it, each may be using it as leverage against the backdrop of the larger picture, which is the upcoming CBA negotiations, which could get very ugly, especially with the two clowns running things (Manfred & Clark).
I heard it won’t be in 2021, which makes sense since CBA negotiations are coming up very soon. I feel all the new rules we saw in 2020 won’t be in 2021 just so they can be part of CBA negotiations in the 2021-2022 off season.
As it stands now, he definitely misses, but it’s interesting to think that if Cruz wasn’t a late bloomer, he would have a lot of the hitting benchmarks to reach the hall. Just a couple years earlier would probably give him 500+ hr and 2300+ hits. I 100% recognize and agree that those are flawed stats, but relative to the vast majority of HoF members, he would probably have been there.
It’s debatable whether Nelson Cruz would be a HOF candidate even if he “wasn’t a late bloomer”. He would still have to stand in line behind many other candidates who have been tainted by PED’s. Cruz was suspended for 50 games in 2013 during his final year with the Rangers for violating MLB’s steroid policy.
Except he cheated to get there so the hall of shame is about the hall that dude should see.
The Hall of Shame is such a stupid concept. As if every professional athlete prior to 2000 wasn’t on something or other. Let’s keep Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod, McGwire, and Sosa out. Only the core players that kept baseball relevant and existing during the late 90s when the sport was dying.
You wanna support cheaters go ahead….but to say “every professional athlete” used peds is about the stupidest thing I’ve read all day.
Didn’t say PEDs, said “on something.” Be it hard drugs or booze or whatever stimulant. Don’t be naive. Pro sports has never been clean.
The league needs to figure out this DH thing for the NL ASAP. Screwing around will delay the free agent market
That’s why league won’t figure it out ASAP. Longer free agency lingers- better it is for the owners
And the bot continues to churn out conspiracy theories.
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Universal DH or not, hard to think a 40 year old DH will be able to get a 2 year deal.
He will get two years
He will get a 2 year deal if salary is reasonable. 2 yr 25 mill is def reasonable
I can almost guarantee that if he gets two years it will be for more than 25M.
Cruz put up great numbers in Seattle and “settled” for a 14 million contract with a 12 million option with the Twins. Over 25 million is no where near a guarantee at his age.
Given his numbers, as well as his standing as a Latino leader with all of the Spanish-speaking players in the league, I don’t think it’s all that outrageous to think he could get two years.
Cruz rakes. Yes, he is a DH, but is there any other position where you would be comfortable giving a 40 year old guy a 2 year deal?
Who is the oldest player to get a multi-year contract? A quick google search led me to Julio Franco signing with the Mets in November 2005 for 2 years $2.2m. He was 47. I don’t think that Cruz and Franco’s situations are comparable though.
Cruz could get a 3 year deal if he is willing to drop his AAV. If 2/25 is reasonable, why not 3/30?
Even though the Twins are interested, I can’t see them bringing him back with Kirilloff, Rooker, and possibly Larnach due up in 2021. They could however trade one or two of them in a deal for a front end SP, which they need. That could free up a spot for Cruz. Other than that, the Astros, Athletics, Jays, and possibly the Rays could be a fit. The Astros have a few big hitters hitting free agency. The Athletics need to upgrade from Khris Davis. Cruz would do wonders working with the Jays young hitters and hitting in the middle of that order. The Rays could move on from Renfroe and end up moving Tsutsugo into LF against righties. They are probably an unlikely fit but it could be done. The article mentions the Whitesox, but if Vaughn starts the season in the MLB, he or Abreu will occupy the DH spot.
I like him for the jays. He’d really move the needle for their offense and wouldn’t require a ton of money or guaranteed years. If I was Atkins I’d be more than happy to give him 2 years
D’accord.
He’d be a *great* fit with Toronto.
I’d be happy to have the Jays sign him. They have the money and he can mash. But, I don’t see it as an obvious fit either. Tellez is still a 25 year old who just OPS’d 886, and Vlad Jr may be headed for more DH at bats too. I’d rather buy a starter, a CF, or 3B if given the choice….
Twins trading prospects….lolz. That’ll never happen. They been sitting on a slew of prospects who’s stocks been dropping. If they’d have traded kiriloff, Lewis, and Buxton at height of value- twins would have won 3 central divisions in a row
Fair but they should. Berrios isn’t an ace – more like a 3 on a good pitching staff. We will see what Balazovic does when he gets settled in the bigs. Adding another number 2 type wouldnt be a bad thing either.
Astros can’t fit him unless Alvarez plays the field. Easy to forget about 2019 AL ROY, but he missed all but 2 games last year with knee problems. No way he plays the field.
Valid point about Alvarez.
That past move of dropping David Ortiz for Matt LeCroy worked out well for the Twins, so why not move on from a known quantity for a young question mark?
The Brewers would be a good fit if the DH remains next season.
Like others have said already, it’s kind of absurd that they haven’t already decided whether or not the NL will have a DH. It’s affecting team planning.
Nobody has ever accused the MLB of being a well run organization, that’s for sure.
Not when your dealing with the the MLBPA.
Amen Goat.
Well run is subjective. They exist to make money and from that perspective they have operated quite effectively
They are well ran. Appeasing fans and making sense just have never been a significant part of their business plan
Has any player over 40 ever received a multiple-year deal? No one comes to mind…
Tom Brady. You said any.
Would love to see the White Sox pick him up. If they were willing to give a 37 year old Encarnacion 12 mil with a second year club option, I’d have to think they’d give a superior Cruz a full two year deal at a slightly higher amount. Imagine if they also landed Springer.
Imagine all the people sharing all the world…
Sox need LH bat!
I wouldn’t mind it for 2021, but they’d have a logjam at the end of next year and for 2022 if Vaughn becomes ready. Replacing Mazara is a bigger priority, IMO.
The White Sox need to prioritize a solid lefty bat this offseason. They went an astounding 15-0 versus southpaw starters in 2020 including their lone victory in the postseason. Obviously this means they struggled immensely versus RHP.
The White Sox already have a potential logjam at the DH position with right-handed hitters. Jose Abreu and Andrew Vaughn figure to do a timeshare at 1B/DH starting sometime next season when the latter makes his MLB debut.
The organization also has to figure out a way to keep slugger Eloy Jimenez in the lineup more frequently. Jimenez is still a butcher in LF and jeeps finding ways to get hurt out there as well as on the base paths. Jimenez may also need to spend more time as a DH to not only stay healthier but to improve the White Sox outfield defense. If Jimenez can’t improve his fielding it’s possible they may consider auditioning Vaughn in LF with the former becoming the full time DH.
Most likely, the front office will use their soon to be open RF position in order to add an impacting left-handed bat than what Nomar Mazara provided last season. As an arbitration eligible in 2021, Mazara is likely to be non-tendered by December 2nd. That said, it’s possible the White Sox may be in on the bidding for premium right-handed hitting outfield free agent George Springer this offseason to fill their RF void, especially if they wind up hiring his former Astro manager A.J. Hinch to become their new manager within the next week or two. If they sign Springer, the White Sox might then consider adding a lefty hitting DH to their rotation. Pending FA Astro Michael Brantley would fit that bill nicely while also adding a high contact bat to a White Sox lineup that still whiffs too much aside from 2B Nick Madrigal. It’s conceivable that Brantley and Jimenez could do a timeshare at LF/DH in 2021, especially if Vaughn’s MLB debut is delayed.
The Twins I believe could slap a QO on him which would surely have a dampening effect on his ability to get a multi yr deal as a FA at 40 yrs old. So it cost them $18.9M for 1 yr it beats laying out say $30M for 2 yrs for a player that turns 41 in July of 2021.
Kind of disrespectful to slap a man like that however.
Nelson Cruz has already been tagged with a qualifying offer twice in his career before MLB and the MLBPA agreed on a one time only QO for free agents. Cruz received a QO from the Rangers following the 2013 season and another from the Orioles a year later. He rejected both offers before signing contracts. As such, I don’t believe Cruz is eligible for yet another QO this offseason.
Braves will be a fit.
Ozuna will probably want a lengthier contract than they give and thus fits the Braves m.o.
Short expensive deal for an aging veteran (not that Cruz hasn’t been good, he has)
Problem for the Braves and Cruz is there is no clarity on the Universal DH. They need to decide now is there will be a DH in both leagues in 2021.
We all know every DH free agent will wait until a decision has been made.
Some of you act like a decision has to be made right this second. It really doesn’t. Free agents have waited all the way until March to sign in recent years.
And players targeted for a DH role know it’s in their best interest to have teams from the NL bidding for them too so they’ll wait as long as it takes for their market to take shape.
As a White Sox fan, I hope he signs elsewhere, but I don’t really expect it. Amazing how productive he continues to be.
If the DH stays, ATL would be a great place if Ozuna is too expensive. He’s much more cost controlled and that lineup would continue to be very scary.
If there is. a DL in the NL then I would want the Mets to sign him and trade Alonso. If we’re going to clog the DH spot, let it be with the better hitter Cruz
Id like to throw the Dodgers in the hat as well-
If turner bolts for a longer more lucrative offer (they will be there) I think the Dodgers would really covet that type of short term contract- They also really need a lefty masher they can COUNT on – Mookies reverse splits have been a tad troubling this year and Pollock is just awful any time you really need him (postseason)
Barring the Nl having a Dh I think Lad will be all over Nelson- As much as I like Turner id rather have a 2/25 from Cruz than say a 3/45 from Turner at this point- Turners 3b usefulness has almost run dry as well and that bat has slowed up just a tick already
2 years/$33M I’d guess, from whomever wins the bidding.
I’d take Cruz over Stanton anyday. Stanton has a no trade clause and they are stuck with him. I’m hoping after his solid post season maybe the Angels would want to deal for Stanton
Still…. Stanton and Judge both healthy is a dangerous duo
Healthy is the key word. Will they ever really be Healthy and play 140 games or more together. It’s very very doubtful.
No way the Jays move on from Rowdy. He’s inexpensive, controllable and trending in right direction. Jays need a front starter and short term upgrade at 3rd and long term defensive solution at CF.
Rays are a perfect fit for hiim
Hope my White Sox get him.
The Mariners make sense here as suitor. They are far closer to contention then anyone wants to give them credit for.
I don’t think it’s surprising the he’s seeking 2 years, but I think he ends up with a 1 year with an option…
Sign Cruz Twins!