Nelson Cruz 2022 by month:

April .479
May .838
June .822
July .466
August .625
September .573

After May & June, I thought Cruz might have just been a victim of the lockout-shortened spring straining causing a slow start, but his 2nd half suggested Father Time had finally caught up with him. However, Cruz apparently had an eye problem that necessitated off-season surgery, so maybe he can rebound a bit. Presumably, the Padres thought the medicals indicated Cruz was worth taking a chance on.

It's only $1 M so not much of a chance. You can't even get a reliever to warm up for less than $2 M a year these days.

Time for a poll; Leave #2 as is or should I have gone with "you can't even get a batting practice pitcher for less than $2 M a year these days?"

I'm leaning towards the latter myself but I don't get to test my stuff out at the comedy store.

A million bucks to babysit Tatis Junior and to provide a steadying veteran presence.

A million bucks to babysit Tatis Junior and to provide a steadying veteran presence.

I'm not sure Cruz, with a positive test in his past, is the best babysitter. Now, if you meant "can provide Tatis Jr. with his source for no-ban enhancement, then....sure, great buy.

I wonder if this is an early example of teams looking at Albert Pujols's 2022 season, and going, "If I use the 40+ year old slugger in the right way, we can get 200 really good PAs out of them." I'm surprised Cruz was willing to play for a million bucks - he doesn't need the money...he must need the baseball.

I'm not sure Cruz, with a positive test in his past, is the best babysitter.

Biogenesis scandal, wasn't it?

I didn't realize what a slow start to his career Cruz had. He didn't clear 100 games played in a season until he was 28, and didn't manage 500 AB in a season until he was 31. After last year 500 HR looks very unlikely, but if he'd gotten more of a chance earlier, things might be different. Sure, it was the PCL, but he was slugging >500 in the minor leagues in 2004, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (with varying amounts of MLB time each year). It wasn't until 2009, after putting up good slugging numbers for five years running, that he had a season in which he didn't spend some substantial part of the year in the minors. It's true that in 2006 and 2007 his MLB performance was uninspiring, but we know (now) that he was a good hitter, whose MLB production would (eventually) match what he was doing in the minors those years. Maybe if his teams had given him a longer leash he'd have established himself earlier, and we'd be talking about his (still fairly weak, but at least plausible) HOF case right now. (Steroids notwithstanding.)

I'm surprised Cruz was willing to play for a million bucks - he doesn't need the money...he must need the baseball.

The idea of working in San Diego, and playing on a young and exciting team, sounds pretty appealing to me.

Most similar careers to Nelson Cruz, by PAs, OPS+, and dWAR. Joe Kelley is a HOFer who starred for the 1890s Orioles: I barely recognized his name and could not have told you he was in the Hall of Fame.

Canseco is an interesting close comp. A much bigger star and figure in baseball history, but in terms of his overall impact ... Cruz and Canseco both have exactly 42.5 bWAR. After looking at their career lines for a few minutes I am very confused and have to keep checking to see that I'm not just looking at the same one twice.



Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 1/12/2023.

Cruz was reportedly a very good influence in the Twins' clubhouse in 2019. Lots of young guys really said a ton of great things about him that year, so don't discount the notion of the influence he could have on wild child Tatis. I'm sure that's part of why he was signed, and who knows, maybe the drug bust will give the old man some street cred with the young tough.

Yeah, Canseco and Cruz sorta mirror images -- great start, great finish; brash star, anonymous slugger; 40 SBs in a season, 83 in a career. But as soon as you mentioned Canseco as a comp, I thought they would be really close.

maybe the drug bust will give the old man some street cred with the young tough.

The late 80s called, they'd like their lingo back. :-)

Players said similarly good things about late Manny and Giambi.