Padres agree to deal with veteran slugger Cruz (source)
Veteran slugger Nelson Cruz has agreed to a one-year, $1 million take care of the Padres, a supply instructed MLB.com’s Shaun O’Neill on Wednesday, including somewhat extra thump to a lineup that has introduced Xander Bogaerts and Matt Carpenter aboard this winter. The membership has not confirmed the transfer.
For years, Cruz held Father Time at bay extra successfully than nearly any participant in baseball historical past. A late bloomer who didn’t set up himself within the Majors till his late 20s, Cruz made up for misplaced time by bashing 292 residence runs from ages 33-40 — greater than anybody apart from Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and Babe Ruth. He additionally earned 5 of his seven profession All-Star choices in that point, in addition to all 4 of his Silver Slugger Awards.
But issues did not go so easily in 2022, when Cruz turned 42 at midseason, making him MLB’s second-oldest hitter behind Albert Pujols. Cruz signed a one-year deal to offer the Nationals with middle-of-the-order thump and veteran management out of the DH spot, however issues by no means actually clicked offensively. In 124 video games, Cruz hit simply 10 residence runs and batted .234/.313/.337, leaving him with a below-average OPS+ (90) for the primary time since 2007.
It was a very robust second half for Cruz, who batted a mere .208/.290/.274 with three homers over his remaining 64 video games as Washington sputtered to a last-place end within the NL East.
Yet Cruz’s observe report previous to 2022 nonetheless makes him an intriguing bat, at the same time as he’s restricted strictly to DH duties. (He hasn’t performed the outfield in any respect since 2018). From 2019-21, he posted a .936 OPS, whereas his 89 homers tied for third within the Majors.
Originally signed by the Mets out of the Dominican Republic method again in 1998, Cruz will probably be coming into his nineteenth MLB season in 2023. His 459 profession homers rank thirty ninth on the all-time record, and he’ll enter 2023 second amongst lively hitters, behind solely Miguel Cabrera (507).
