The Orioles continued what has been an incredibly busy seven-day span by announcing the signing of slugger Nelson Cruz to a one-year deal. Cruz's contract contains a base salary of $8MM, plus $750K in incentives — a disappointing outcome for a player who declined a $14.1MM qualifying offer from the Rangers and at one point reportedly sought a four-year, $75MM deal. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that Cruz rejected two- and three-year offers this offseason, although the timeline of those offers is unclear. Cruz is represented by the Wasserman Media Group.
Cruz, 33, hit .266/.327/.506 in 456 plate appearances in 2013. A 50-game suspension for his connection to the Biogenesis scandal shortened his season. As MLBTR's Steve Adams noted in profiling Cruz in early November, however, that didn't stop Rangers manager Ron Washington from offering praise for Cruz as a teammate and a clubhouse presence.
The Rangers will now receive what is currently the No. 30 overall pick in the 2014 draft as a result of Cruz signing elsewhere. The Orioles, meanwhile, will sacrifice the No. 55 pick. Losing the No. 17 pick when they struck a deal with Ubaldo Jimenez likely made it easier for the Orioles to sign Cruz, since they would no longer have to give up a first-round draft choice in order to do so. In addition to Cruz and Jimenez, the Orioles have also signed Korean righty Suk-min Yoon to a three-year deal in the past week.
The Cruz deal is another win-now move for the Orioles, who are trying to build on an 85-win 2013 season and string together more wins before the potential departures of Chris Davis and Matt Wieters following the 2015 season. Cruz will serve as the Orioles' primary designated hitter, and he will also likely occasionally see time in the outfield. The transition to Camden Yards and the other hitter-friendly parks of the AL East should be a good move for Cruz, whose drastic home/road splits have drawn some criticism this offseason.
Of the remaining free agents, Cruz's pact with the Orioles most obviously affects Kendrys Morales. The Orioles reportedly had interest in Morales, so now the already-small number of interested bidders for Morales appears to be even smaller. Also, Cruz signing for one year and $8MM will likely make it even more difficult for Morales, a similar player, to get a sizeable deal.
The size of the deal will also likely increase skepticism throughout baseball about the qualifying offer process. That Cruz received so little was surely due in part to the fact that he had draft-pick forfeiture attached, and one year and $8MM is by far the smallest contract to which a qualifying offer player has agreed.
Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes first reported that the two sides had reached an agreement after CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reported that they were closing in on a deal.
Steve Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Great news! …. for the Mariners.
Because Logan Morrison and Corey Hart will be the missing pieces towards a championship run right? Cruz will have a better season than both.
Cruz can barely move his legs at a decent pace in the direction he wants them to go. His value is limited because he doesn’t move his lower limbs. Morrison is younger, cheaper, and can move better. Hart doesn’t have compensation attached and is likely better if healthy (which he appears to be).
Hart and Morrison can’t stay healthy. They’re cheaper and don’t have compensation for a reason. Morrison was expendable in Miami with their depth/ missing half the season twice and harts knees won’t last 100 games even at DH. At least Cruz can give you health and a bat.
This almost sounds like he needs a walker to get around the bases.
Montero probably will have to steal a Wal-mart scooter to get around the bases.
Woops.
Unbelievable to think early in the offseason.
Not really. He way overextended himself. He really isn’t that good of a player.
Wow i’m really happy for Oriole fans. They needed a couple big moves. Great work Dan.
O’s were stalled all offseason, and are now in Cruz control the past week.
I see what you did here!
Also, you are right the Orioles are rolling now.
I like the Deal and I like Cruz! Quite frankly, I am excited about the season!
Hopefully, everyone stays healthy and happy!
Amazing deal for the O’s… Nelly will be incentivized to perform, and he’ll kill it in that stadium. Definitely worth the no. 55 pick. One of the best moves of the offseason.
I wanted morales and Santana, they got Cruz and Jimenez. I get it and as a fan I’m still excited cause at least they got better this offseason. They made a smart decision to forfeit the 52 pick. If Cruz is good on the one year deal the orioles can make him a qualifying offer and get back either a higher draft pick or another year. If he is bad the money is off the books and they can get the extension done for davis.
Why did you want Santana over Jimenez?
They both had a down year in 2012 but overall I think Santana is a safer bet, more consistent, over 200 innings 5 years, only 30. I like the Jubaldo signing but he walks way to many batters and the AL East hitters are very patient.
They can still sign Santana…
I can definitely see this happening with a Kyle Lohse 3/33 type contract. And now you just lose a third round pick. It is a great way to go for it.
I’m a Sox fan.
Only for 8 million. Steal for Cruz and his powerful bat.
Cruz gets very little out of this. I wonder if he sought/received a clause guaranteeing the Orioles cannot make him a QO. Otherwise he could end up in same tough position next winter, too. If he can (1) have a great season, (2) get unhinged from compensation, then he could get perhaps $42M next winter.
such a clause would violate the current CBA
Would such a clause violate the CBA? I think Beltran had a clause like that a few years ago. I know the CBA changed but I wasn’t sure if that specific issue had been addressed.
Prior to this current CBA qualifying offers didn’t exist. It was a very different structure.
They did exist, just not in this form. In the previous CBA if a team offered a QO and the player turned it down, they became either a Type A or Type B free agent and the team singing them would lose their draft pick to the team losing the player.
Does not mean there can’t be a handshake agreement. It does seem like his deal is peculiarly small.
If he gets a QO next year of 14 mil, good for him and he should take it as a 34 year old and then again as a 35 year old because he will not get a multi-year anywhere close.to 14 mil annual.
Wow…the 1st player this offseason to sign a contract for what FanGraphs values him as. I never thought it’d go that low. That is a great signing for the O’s to add a 30-40 HR guy. With how much they saved they maybe able to still sign Morales to DH (I doubt it though, but adding those 2 bats in Baltimore would be a killer lineup). I’m no O’s fan, but would Love O’s to overtake Yankees and BoSox and win this division!
Pretty sure Cruz will be the DH.
I think this definitely gives the orioles a shot at the division, they were a borderline solid team without making any major moves this off season, but I think this definitely makes them much more of a threat. I’m a yanks fan, but having the o’s in the mix should make this a very interesting division. I just feel bad for Toronto fans….
30-40 HR guy? Cruz has only hit 30 home runs ONCE in his career. And that was with PED’s!
Hit 44 total in 2008 if you count the 37 at AAA, hit 33 in 2009, and hit 32 in 2011 if you count his 3 in minor league rehab. But your point is valid anyway and about the PEDs though he probably only did them the one time they had evidence just like everyone else.
Just out of curiosity, where is this fan graphs source? How do they rate players?
How much you think Morales will go for now in Seattle?
With limited Defense I can’t see how Morales will go for more than that. “If” Seattle could get Morales for $7-8m/yr I would go out 3 years and $21-24m on Morales as Seattle’s DH. We are talking Boras though with Morales.
yep, Bloomquist on Boras got 5.8 mill… Morales will command a lot more than that…
Wow, it’s almost like Cruz should’ve accepted the Qualifying Offer all along……
Ya think?
Morales too!
And Drew.
It’s time to go back to the drawing board on QO. They still aren’t working. They just need to give compensation without giving up a draft pick, or these players will continually be hurt by the system. Good for the O’s though, but it’s also good for the Rangers.
True, but it was supposed to help competitive balance. It was supposed to penalize the teams that “buy up” all of the good FAs.
The system isn’t broken because players like Cruz didn’t get 75. He could’ve accepted the 14 million dollar offer. He’s not an elite player who didn’t deserve a big contract.
Completely agreed. Now that a handful of guys went into ST without contracts, it has to be a lesson to agents and future free agents. If baseball keeps this system, guys will have to realize they have been de facto franchised.
I don’t really think that it would be a case of being franchised since most of these players in limbo aren’t worth annual salaries of 14 million. The problem is that since no one has accepted a QO, there’s not as much risk in offering it.
Exactly! I don’t think he deserved 14.1 and I’m not sure he deserves 8, but the QO offer should help teams keep their players. It guarantees a strong deal for people who want to stay. If someone is worth a big multi-year deal elsewhere, they’ll get it. If they want out of an organization, they’ll get out. Just because some marginal talent got big heads and entered spring training without a contract isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the game or the fans or the players as a collective.
Cruz got hurt, but not by the system. He turned down 14 mil and that is on him. The market paid him fair value of 8 mil. Where is the problem?
If you call getting 8 million dollars to play baseball being “hurt by the system.”
Yeah I just don’t get how a player who turned down more than he’s worth and ended up signing a contract for what’s he’s worth shows the system isn’t working
Those who get less that the QO should perhaps consider other agents.
In the case of Nelson Cruz, you could not be more wrong. The system did nothing to his value and what he received. He was crushed by an extremely foolish decision to turn down a qualifying offer. Coming off of a 50-game suspension was the time to take the QO and prove that he was still healthy and worth more when it came time to find a deal for 2015 and beyond. The same holds true for Steven Drew if he ends up signing for less than the QO. The $14 million deal for ’14 would have been a steal for him and he made a bad decision. It’s not the system — it’s the arrogance or foolishness of the player and his reps.
Why is it broken?
He turned down an offer that at the time still seemed too high. In what world is Nelson Cruz worth more than $14M a year?
It’s amazing how little people get it. His value was directly hurt with the draft pick compensation attached. There was only a handful of teams willing to bid because of it. You don’t think the small market teams reliant on draft picks wouldn’t have signed him for $8M? Hell the main reason the Orioles were willing to do it was because they already lost their first round pick. Yes, he could have absolutely taken 14.1 million, but you have to decide so quickly that it’s hard to know what you’re going to get when the market bears out.
Good signing for Orioles
Who do the Rangers get #30, and the Orioles lose #55?
Don’t the Rangers just get the Orioles’ second round pick, which is currently #55?
No they changed that, you always get a pick after the first round now (supplemental round.)
Rangers get a supplemental draft pick for Cruz. No matter which pick the signing team loses.
Bet the Rangers would have taken Cruz back to DH for one year at 4 or 5 mil. Kind of a little overpay at 8.
The Rangers offered him 14 million
They were willing to take him back for $14.1M . . . hence the qualifying offer.
That was before signing Choo and trading for Fielder…
8MM for 25 HR and 80 RBI won’t seem to bad when you compare to last year’s DH expense or what the team will see from 550 or so Moreland atbats.
Moreland averages off around 20 or so homers with 68 RBIs at a little over 2 million this season. I think the Rangers still have the better deal over Cruz.
Moreland is only in his first year of arbitration. Not really a valid comparison.
A complete steal! Way to get played Rube … who would you take Byrd @ 2/$16 or Cruz @ 1/$8, no brainer. Kudos to the Orioles
Did Byrd cost a draft pick though?
Very strong point, but the Phils have a protected first round pick. I think anyone in our town would prefer to give up that 2nd rd pick (especially since our track record is so poor) to have one less year of a commitment to a better 5 hole hitter
would you have been happy if your GM had not signed Byrd and then done nothing else up to this point while waiting for Cruz’s price to come down?
Cruz obviously would not have signed this contract back when Byrd signed his.
I would prefer they never signed Byrd at all. He’s a prime candidate for a regression and I’d rather take my chances with with the young buck Darin Ruf’s .800+ OPS unless I could get Cruz. Would have also been interested in Morse too
WelI I agree with that, Darin Ruf needs to play. He still may have an opportunity to shine, especially if you are right about the birdman.
OR you could trade Ruf to the M’s!
I don’t think you want Morse, he is not that good and to fragile.
I don’t believe Byrd cost a pick. He was traded mid season to Pitt and I believe once traded teams cannot extend qualifying offers .
I’m curious what Seattle’s offer to Cruz was now?! I was pretty sure that Seattle was at 2yrs with a 3rd option year…maybe that was all rumor/talk going on?!
Boras has got to be fuming with this Cruz deal…trying to get Morales as much as possible. This is definitely good news for Seattle landing Morales on a decent deal now.
Do they really need another 1B/DH type player, with Hart, L. Morrison and Smoak already there (although of course Hart and Morrison can also play LF/RF)?
Seattle is going to run with Hart in RF as much as he can handle it. Morrison can be used at LF/1B, yes we have Smoak too against RHPs, but Morales would still fit very nicely at DH in my opinion
Looks like a good sign for the O’s. The conspiracy folks will be out saying how the QO killed his value when in fact he signed for what looks to be fair market value according to some including fangraphs and the estimated 6 mil per WAR..
You are right! This is right where he “should” be in salary value, but in todays market and the inflated MLB money O’s still got a steal!
I”m Shocked! I swore Seattle’s offer was for multiple years and for more annually than this. WOW O’s great job!
Now go Win your flippin division!!!!!
Now the Orioles will sign Drew and Morales! Just kidding, although that would be a killer lineup..
Why now now since they’ve pretty much given up on the 2014 draft.
Great deal for the O’s… they’re ready to compete. Detroit and Seattle could have really used Cruz, possibly more than Baltimore (especially Seattle).
For Detroit it would’ve been a very marginal upgrade if there was any upgrade at all.
Well, I’d say Detroit’s main needs right now are a power bat and position players who can perform in the playoffs, and Cruz is both of those things.
Obviously he’d be a downgrade in the field, but I think Cruz’s particular skill set would be much more valuable to the Tigers than Dirks
We’ll have to see what happens, but the Tigers haven’t had a ton of power since the first three years of Leyland being there and they’ve been pretty solid. I don’t see them being completely power sapped like the 2010 team, and they offer more speed-wise than any Tigers’ team in recent memory.
And you have to remember that Dirks is likely half of a platoon with Davis. Certainly you’d prefer to have one player provide the same production that two can, but what they have offers more versatility, better defense, and potentially equal offensive contribution thanks to OBP and speed.
Great lineup protection for Chis Davis – I assume they think they can re-coup the pick by making him a QO is 2015(?)
Probably don’t want to do that. He’ll never be worth a QO again.
Wish the NL had a DH
Heck no.
Pass
Boras never would’ve settled for this deal.
So what is your estimate now with Morales/Boras contract?
Yes! Go mariners!
Yeah but for 1yr $8m? I would have taken Cruz in Seattle and his 30-40 HRs.
Cruz hasn’t hit 30 HRs since 2009 and despite the pulled in fence, he would be unlikely to pull that feat off in Seattle.
that’s assuming he would’ve signed the same deal with Seattle.
Being a Mariners fan, I didn’t want Cruz… knowing they won’t sign him – The M’s better get together and bring in another bat for 2014.
We need to land Morales bat in my opinion. There’s noway Morales goes for more than Cruz with even less defensive value than Cruz, but Seattle would be wise to give Morales a 3 yr deal at Cruz’s annual price…or even at $21m/3yr
I am a huge fan of Morales. Always have been and would love to have him for a few years. Seager, Cano, Hart, Morales – Those 4 names look pretty good together.
I’LL take some of his 2012 numbers as in 90 RBI’S…..GO O’S
The size of the deal will also likely increase skepticism throughout baseball about the qualifying offer process. — No, the qualifying offer process does not need to be evaluated – the agents who convince an aging slugger, with poor home/road splits, declining on-base skills, no ability to play defense, poor baserunning, and coming off a PED suspension – to turn down $14.1M — especially after compiling 3 years of fWAR around 1.3, 1.1, and 1.5 –
8 mil plus incentives is a steal for Cruz. Plus they get to offer him a QO next year.
It’s actually not really a steal, it’s just about what he’s worth. Unless he has a big year, he’ll accept the QO lest he go through this nightmare again.
I much preferred Morales to Cruz, however, after the terms of this deal I see that this is a great signing. I hope what happened is that Morales is still holding out for more years and dollars and not that the O’s just preferred Cruz outright. I would be happy to see Morales sign elsewhere for 3/42 and justify my hope. Either way, I had no idea Cruz could be had on a 1 year deal and especially not for only 8 mil! To be honest, I wonder now if they can make another cheap run at Ervin Santana as well.
Boras might still get a 3 yr deal for Morales, but it’s only gonna be in the $21-$24m range, and only Seattle would go that distance.
I can’t imagine Morales will get anything close to 3/42. He’ll be lucky to get half that at this point.
He must have really not wanted to play in Seattle.
Good move for the O’s though. He should have a solid season in a contract year.
i wouldve rather them signed morales, but this is a pretty good steal for the orioles. im anxious to see what morales signs for.
Terrible move. I would’ve rather handed the DH job to Delmon Young or Nolan Reimold.
except neither of them are very good
Much like Nelson Cruz.
you think delmon young or nolan reimold are better than nelson cruz? a washed up former top pick, and a guy who’s going to be on the DL within the first 60 days of the season. urrutia is better than either of them. they might as well spend the nationals MASN money while they have it.
Reimold could be if he ever stayed healthy. He has shown flashes. He was the best hitter on the Orioles in 2012 before he got hurt at the end of April. OPS+ 154. Also his 2009 and 2011 numbers if he had played the whole season would project into Cruz territory and his defense is better if needed.
No, but I think they’re close enough to post-PEDs Cruz that I would’ve just kept the draft pick and put the $8 million into a Hardy extension.
Cruz’ PED use was a couple years ago. Give me a break. It is irrelevant now.
His PED use is relevant.
I don’t know of any player that has been totally honest and forthcoming about their steroid use.
Coming off steroid use increases breakdown of tissue in the body, increasing ageing and injury risk.
I don’t like Cruz either, but…
Projected wRC+ for Cruz: 113
Delmon Young: 95 (a below average hitter at DH…great suggestion there)
Nolan Reimold: 87 (see above)
We were so ready to pan any Cruz contract, since he was seemingly overrated, but this is actually a bargain. He IS a good hitter and if he plays DH his defensive woes won’t be seen.
Mets giving Chris Young $7.25 mil looks REALLY bad now!
Young was the slightest of overpays but comes with much better defense, youth, and better offense (Young’s bat > a PED-less Cruz’s bat).
EDIT: not to mention Young came without the cost of a draft pick.
Chris Young was a significant overpay. He plays good defense but his bat is terrible. HIs BA and OBP have declined 4 straight years – and they weren’t good to begin with.
Now if the O’s only had a closer like Balfour, they’d have a shot at finishing higher than 4th.
They do, just not known which face he wears.
It must sting that Melky Cabrera got twice the guaranteed money and years than Cruz, despite their similar controversies and disparate numbers.
Melky didn’t have the burdern of the QO attached though or the Jays likely wouldn’t have even entertained that offer.
Ervin Santana made the mistake of hiring Wasserman Media as his agent. Wasserman’s expertise is representing soccer players and it shows with their clueless approach with Santana.
i think it is fair to give him a one year under market contract after coming of a drug suspension and having no defensive ability. the orioles made a great signing here and cruz gets a chance to truly prove himself clean to re-establish his value for next year while the o’s get a great bat for the DH spot for half of what it could have cost. win-win here i think.
Could wind up being another Vlad Guerrero $8 million toilet flush like the O’s did in 2011. Will find out how much the post-PED drop off is.
Fantastic deal by the O’s. AL East Competition will be fierce this season
Seattle just resign Morales already. you missed out on Cruz.
Id rather have us sign Morales than Cruz anyways.
scott boras must of asked too much again lol poor kendry
Really surprised that Cruz went for a 1 year deal even more so that it was just for $8MM. The O’s got a good deal here. I’d guess that Cruz and the O’s have a handshake agreement that the O’s will NOT make Cruz a QO at the end of the 2014 season.
I also have to admit that I’m more surprised that the Mariners didn’t jump on Cruz if he was willing to settle for the type of deal he got from the O’s. Some Seattle fans might take issue with the following but it appears to me that the Mariners seem content at this point to make Cano there really only significant FA signing this winter.
There’s no way Cruz will be worth a $14mill+ QO next offseason
i see it as more a 2/22 million deal if they offer him the QO next offseason
If he hits 20+ HR then yes it is worth a QO
This is bittersweet for me as a Yankee fan. I’m happy the M’s didn’t sign it, that way Robby has even less to work with in Seattle and he’ll regret the decision even sooner. Bad because it does make the O’s and even bigger threat in the East. I still see them as a 4th-3rd place finish but it’ll be a lot more interesting now.
I think Cruz does make the O’s better offensively but I’m not sure it’s by as much as you may think and defensively he’s a real liability.
Luckily, the Orioles had a relatively glaring hole at DH before this signing and Showalter has stated that he prefers an everyday DH. I’ve no idea if there’s any news on whether they plan to primarily use him there, but that seems the logical choice unless they also plan on signing Morales. However, defensively, an outfield of Cruz, Jones, and Markakis is not very sound going by the statistics that we have available.
David Lough will be the everyday LF for his speed and defense, with Cruz DHing most of the time.
Right on, I forgot they had acquired Lough.
Since when is he playing defense? He will be full time DH
A little bitter to be on the other end of a free agent signing, are we? Now you Yankee fans know how it feels. Yeah, Cano will have a lot of regret with that contract.
Isn’t this how the QO process is supposed to work? Keep players with their teams 14.1 mil is nothing to sneeze at and I have no idea why people on this site seem to think that players of the caliber of Cruz or K. Morales are worth anything near 14.1 let alone a monster deal.
See if they can get morales and Santana now. Go for it.
I don’t recall if they have any dead weight salary or not. But sign everyone to a one year deal if they will.
Good job o’s. Cruz looks pretty foolish here
I’d rather they spend that money on a JJ Hardy extension
I’m a little surprised that this is the extent of his market. Probably a good signing by the O’s. He can hit, and if the reason he was hitting was simply because of PEDS they haven’t spent all that much money. And if he can hit, but the O’s are going no where, he can be flipped for a prospect later in the season..
$8 million for one year is a great deal for the O’s. Morales must be drinking his sorrows away right about now, losing out on what will probably be around $6 million.
I was at Rangers game last June against the Oakland A’s. Watching Cruz he hit a solo hr early and then a 3 run shot and by the time the game was over he had hit 3 hrs. He has tremendous power and two years ago hit over 40 doubles. He sure gives the orioles that production they were lacking at LF and DH where ever they play him. Hard to find a right handed power hitter on the market. Yankees paid almost half that just not to have Vernon Wells on the team this year. Vernon Wells…he is no Nelson Cruz.
If Cruz plays more than 30 games in the RF or LF id be shock he will be full time Dh unless lough struffles
Ok Mariners, time to stop sitting on your hands and sign Morales!
I see it like this Cruz does Amazing: The orioles can offer him a QO and if he signs its a 2/23ish milion dollar deal which still isnt crazy (since it means he played well). If he declines the orioles get a 1st round pick and a good player for 1 year 8 million.
If it was all steroids and Cruz does terrible: the orioles lose a 2nd round draft pick but only spend 8 million and arent committed long term.
The Os waited out the market, and they ended up signing Ubaldo, Yoon, and Cruz at all relatively low prices, esp. considering the predicted contracts at the start of the off season. Ubaldo at 12.5M/YR? Or Cruz at 8? Wow
got to see the effects of Cruz being off steroids and which Ubaldo we get but I am cautiously optimistic
Giving up a first round pick for him is not smart, he is barely above a replacement level player
they didnt give up a first round pick up for him they gave up a second round pick and can always offer a QO and pick up a first round pick for him instead
At his age and skill he will be accepting a QO next season, he knows that he won’t find anything better in the open market
I mean if he earns a qualifying offer from the orioles that means he played well and I have no problem if he accepts it.
Whether it’s smart or not depends on what they pay him. If they would’ve paid him 15 mil per year, then no, giving up a pick isn’t smart.
But when they pay him only 8 mil, it’s a bargain.
Your flaw is that you do not put a value to the draft pick.
No I do value the pick, Nelson Cruz versus Reimold is really not a big difference. Not picking in the first 2 rounds could be disastrous to the farm system. Teams with great farm systems don’t sign QO free agents because they know how valuable high draft picks are.
For Cruz it’s a second rounder, #52 overall. If the O’s than offer him a QO next season they would recoup most likely a better pick.
Still provides some flexibility to pursue Santana or another player, which is nice. I forget where I read it, but someone mentioned the possibility of the O’s signing BOTH Morales and Cruz. Offensively that would be great, but it simultaneously exposes Cruz’s defensive and health liabilities (as he’d have to play predominately in the field), which is a huge concern.
Moving forward I’d like to see the O’s offer a guy like Juan Pierre a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. I am not sold on Reimold, and although he’s pretty much a one-dimensional player, Pierre still possesses speed that is valuable in late-game scenarios. Maybe the Birds think Peguero possesses that ability, however.
Also, why not offer minor league pacts to Johan Santana or even again to Jair Jurrjens? Granted Johan will not be healthy until May at the earliest, but given the extra money and the clear “win-now” mentality Angelos is pushing, there is nothing to lose.
(Also forgot about David Lough, my bad.)
I would love to see the O’s offer Johan Santana and one of the rehabbing closers (Madson, Hanrahan, or Bailey) a deal. Closer is about the only spot that I feel is weak (2B being the other, though I am curious to see what Flaherty can do with a full-time gig).
Good VALUE signing for sure(if Designated itter ONLY) as Cruz could get 25+ Dingers w/ BALT(NOT getting 25+ w/ SEA imo) Also not as good as Kendrys Morales but definitely serviceable batting after C.Davis…especially for just 1-yr/8mil and wanted 4/75…Remember Kids…PED’s REALLY ARE BAD!!!
Tell that to Jhonny Peralta…
If any team thought he was worth $75M, they would have given it to him….PEDs or no PEDs
Orioles just stole Nelson Cruz, good job
Next up Kendrys Morales and Ervin Santana. Did somebody send Angelos out of the country?
I know that $8m is pretty much what the market dictated for Cruz, and I’m glad he went to Baltimore – a team with great fans and hungry for a winner. So long as the Orioles know what they are getting, a .260/25/85 guy AT BEST. Does anyone really see this guy hitting 30 HR again?
Since he has only ever hit 30 homers once, no. With power harder to come by, this is still a good deal. We could actually improve our draft pick from a 2 to a compensatory pick if Cruz declines the QO next year too.
Actually, Cruz will hit in more home run friendly ballparks. Camden is more or less like Arlington.
But you have no Safeco in Al east. All ballparks except Tampa is real hitting friendly. And Tampa is alright.
So I think 30 hrs is pretty likely.
But the batting average will likely be real bad. .235?
30 HR for Cruz is entirely dependent on his health. He’s really only played one full season (2012) and he hit 24 that season. Every other season he has played since becoming a regular he likely would’ve hit 30+ HR had he not been injured at some point.
I think those numbers added to the Orioles lineup is worth 8 mil in todays baseball world. I personally expect about 25 homeruns with 90 rbi’s and am praying he can hit above .250. Camden Yards is a good doubles park so I look for his number of doubles to increase too
He hit 27 last year, while missing 50 games. And last year he was clean
This makes that knee-jerk Marlon Byrd signing (2 years, $16M) look that much better.
Bravo Rube (slow clap……..)
I wonder if they preferred Cruz or if he was just asking for less than Morales. Other than last year, Morales seems to have a slight edge as a hitter IMO
Either that or maybe Morales preferred to return to t
Seattle?
Sounds like Cruz kept coming back to the orioles trying to make a deal and when his number got to 8 it was much better than spending multiple years and higher annual value on Morales.
Way to take less Nellie. Lol.
I think he was upset that Choo got his number…The last thing he wanted to do was come back, and take a different number! Poor choice.
This deal make Lohse look overpaid.
So tired of the whining about how the FA QO system hurt poor Nelson Cruz. He is lucky to have the chance to make $8M since he is a PED user and should be removed from baseball. They all should, so I dont want to hear jack about how the system hurt him. Next time, do like ARod and Braun and get your big contract BEFORE you get caught, since it is clear baseball still won’t do anything to really stop PEDs. (like 1 year suspension first offense AND only being allowed to make league minimum for a year before becoming a true FA.
Punish them in the wallet and they will get a little more serious.
Great stuff James. I agree with everything you said. These jokers need to learn a valuable lesso .
Good for the O’s but I am surprised he turned down the mariners and more years for a 1 year 8 million dollar (plus incentives) deal with the Orioles. He was the one asking for MORE years MORE money… this just seemed like settling from his camp.
Teams called his bluff. He got dollars put in front of him, decided to try and find more, so they walked away and went elsewhere.
Now he realizes his market wasn’t as big as what his representation led him to believe. Now he’s not as absurdly rich as he could have been.
Better chance to win with Orioles and much better lineup so he has a chance to put up big numbers for next year plus better hitters park.
obviously his odds could be better there like you mentioned, but all the rumors made it look like he was looking for a payday than winning.
WOW.
I thought he was absolutely nuts to turn down that QO. Seems I was right, but wow, he lost $6MM for testing the market. I think this is a decent deal for the O’s in a time when many teams overpaid this winter.
At that price, I would have liked to see the Tigers pounce on him. No pun intended Whatever though, they need the draft pick
lol at people using the word “steal” to define a free agent signing a week before March.
Steal is probably pushing it but really good deal isn’t far fetched. His prior play projected him to be paid more for longer.
Yup, as most GMs say theres no such thing as a bad 1 year deal
That picture is a pretty accurate representation of Cruz’s enthusiasm for this contract haha
At 33, why would you turn down a 3 year deal that reportedly was worth 40,000,00+ incentives, to take a 1 year for 8M? He’ll be 34 next year. No team ( unless it’s one of the big market teams ) will offer anything more than 2-3 for this guy now.
Kudo’s to the O’s. Chris Davis has to be excited. Jones – Davis – Cruz – somebody in this lineup will see a whole bunch of quality pitches.
Maybe his agents at Levinsons could pay him the other $6.1m he would have got had they not convinced their client to reject the QO.
What a massive letdown for Cruz.
Cruz was not a victim of the QO he was victim of his own overblown ego. He gets hit with a PED suspension then 1) Turns down 1/14 2) Rejected two- and three-year offers this offseason 3) Rejects a larger 1 year deal from the Rangers. He got what he deserved!
I agree, but Jhonny Peralta got 4/52 after doing the same thing.
True. The cards really needed a SS so they moved fast. I have to think they might be regretting that now that Drew remains available for a lot less.
I agree, Peralta has more power but I think Drew has a decent bat, even though he’s been kind of inconsistent but his D at SS still makes him more valuable than Peralta IMO
The Cardinals are the best drafting team in the MLB. Signing Peralta required no draft pick compensation, unlike Drew. All things considered, I think they’d do the same thing twice
Word is, local word, he declined a contract because he was not promised an Of role. Texas wanted the bat only. Baltimore has said to offer him a spot in LF. He wants to try and reestablish himself. Very bold I’d say,
That was a great picture to use for this article. Sad Cruz, you struck out!
Can’t believe he turned down 14mil.
The main difference between Cruz and Morales is Morales has not been caught with PED’s and I think is a better hitter. Take Cruz out of Arlington and you have a pretty mediocre hitter based on career averages.
Morales should not be tied down by Cruz low salary.
I like Morales a lot more than Cruz but given his above average but not elite hitting, inability to play defense and poor base running Morales is only worth 8-9 MM a year. Morales is a 1-1.5 WAR player.
911 career OPS hitting at Arlington
734 OPS everywhere else.
OPACY is just as much a hitters park as Arlington.
Camden a significantly better HR hitters park than Arlington too. Camden was 4th in HR factor, Arlington was 19th last year. Cruz road OPS got killed by playing about 18% of his games in LA (20th in HR factor), Seattle (21st) and Oakland (25th) while he was in the AL west.
Well look, doubles clear the bases!
I think he will fit right in with the Orioles!
GoRav and I were supporting your position……
I read it wrong.
I sometimes do that! =P
His bat plays quite well in Camden. Pete Buckley is fixated on the old playing ways of the the ballpark. He can’t seem to grasp the differences because it’s been a short lived occurrence.
Wow talk about completely misreading his market value when turning down that QO.
Correction: Cruz is CURRENTLY represented by Wasserman Media Group.
Don’t just put your toes in the pool. Sign Morales – stick Cruz in LF and actually have a legit chance at the division.
I would rather sign Drew!
I have to say the Orioles are in a rather unique and unprecedented position!
Drew? Eh. Keep Hardy, he’s a better value. I’ve never been impressed with Drew. Yea he’s a great glove, but 96 GP average for 3 seasons and his offense leaves a lot to be desired.
He was told he couldn’t play Of in Texas. The Orioles offered him a shot in LF. So he took the lesser offer.
Are you serious? The Orioles have done no such thing. Their intention is to make him the every day DH, and if he gets 15 games in the OF it will be a surprise.
this is a steal especially since scott kazmir recieved 2yrs 24mil
Sportswriters don’t understand economics. The draft pick had very little to do with the size of Cruz’s contract. Losing a draft pick clearly didn’t cost Cano or McCann any money. Can you say it cost Jimenez money? Don’t think so — he got the same contract as a very similar pitcher, Matt Garza.
Cruz’s market value was set by his market, which simply wasn’t as large as he expected. If more teams wanted him, he would be worth more. It’s that simple.
If the draft pick loss REALLY has an impact, it will be on Drew and/or Morales, if they can’t find anyone to sign them. That would mean nobody would be willing to give up a draft pick for them. The Orioles WERE willing to give up a draft pick for Cruz, and did so. So the largest factor by far in the size of Cruz’s contract was his actual market value.
As the Rangers say BYE-BYE to the “BROOMstick”. Not accepting the qualifying offer from the Rangers was just another swing and miss for Nelson Cruz aka “boomstick”.
Big mistake for Cruz to decline the QO.
test