The Padres have released designated hitter Nelson Cruz, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment a week ago and the club was apparently unable to line up a trade in the meantime. He would have been able to elect free agency if he cleared waivers, so the Friars had little choice but to send him back to the open market.
Cruz, 43, had a lengthy run as one of the best sluggers in the game but has been far less effective over the past two years. From 2009 through 2020, he hit 395 home runs and batted .280/.350/.538 overall for a wRC+ of 137, indicating he was 37% better than the league average hitter.
He initially carried that production into 2021 as well, as he carried a batting line of .294/.370/.537 and a wRC+ of 142 through 85 games with the Twins. At that point, he was flipped to the Rays but couldn’t maintain that performance, hitting just .226/.283/.442 for a wRC+ of 95 with Tampa. He signed with the Nationals last year but couldn’t get back on track, slashing .234/.313/.337 for a wRC+ of 85. Cruz hoped that eye surgery at the end of last year would help him get back in form in 2023 but he’s just just .245/.283/.399 with the Padres, translating to a wRC+ of 85 that matches last year’s figure.
Cruz is effectively just a designated hitter at this point in his career. The last time he played the outfield was back in 2018, and even that was just four games. He played one game at first base with the Rays in 2021, playing the field for seven innings, and logged just a single inning at first for the Friars this year. With those defensive limitations, he needs to hit to justify his roster spot and hasn’t been able to do so for a couple of years now.
The Padres and Cruz agreed to a $1MM salary in the offseason, with just under half of that still to be paid out. It seems no club was willing to take that on, so the Padres will remain on the hook for it by releasing him. That will allow any of the 29 other clubs to bring him aboard while paying him just the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Friars pay. As mentioned, he has been struggling since the middle of 2021, but perhaps some club is willing to take a shot on his previous track record, especially since the financial risk would be essentially nonexistent.
acoss13
I think Nelson should consider retirement. Those numbers aren’t going to get him anywhere, he’s made his money, time to hang them up I say.
stymeedone
I really think he would have accepted a minor league assignment. NOT. Why even try to tell us its because he could elect free agency? Obviously the team discussed his situation with him. They dont want him even in the minors. He’s basically making minimum, and even for the pro rated portion, no team was interested. If that doesn’t make a player salivate for the free market, I don’t know what would.
Goku the Knowledgable One
are you done ?
Hemlock
Nelson, are you ok ?
geg42
I don’t think he’s got enough left to get 36 more home runs . That will hurt his HOF case with the round number enthusiasts.
CursedRangers
I didn’t realize he was that close to 500. Good call out
Sunday Lasagna
Nelson Cruz is not a Hall of Fame player
SonnySteele
But he’s still got time to be a hall of fame manager. 😉
MuleorAstroMule
I agree, but also to play devil’s advocate:
Harold Baines career 38.4 fWAR, 119 wRC+
Nelson Cruz career 40.6 fWAR, 128 wRC+
RockinRobin
Baines is a HOFer either, in my opinion. Decent, long career. But not a HOFer.
You know who should be in the HOF is Lou Whitaker.
RockinRobin
Baines is NOT a HOFer. Edit that.
Sunday Lasagna
Agreed on both, Baines was not a hall of fame caliber player, but Lou Whitaker was.
pharmorlover
Throw in Fred Lynn as well
ThonolansGhost
Slightly less deserving than Jim Rice, slightly more deserving than Harold Baines.
geofft
There really aren’t {m}any round number enthusiasts anymore. Even the older writers talk more about OPS, and MVP finishes. PLus, why does the round number need to be 500? Plenty of guys in the Hall with 400 – as long as they have the supporting numbers to go with it. Cruz really doesn’t.
SonnySteele
Al Kaline got in with 399 homers.
RockinRobin
And 3,007 hits, an .855 OPS, and 10 gold gloves (92.8 WAR too–but that wasn’t a thing back then).
Sunday Lasagna
Not sure if MVP finishes mean much, plenty of MVP winners that shouldn’t have been MVP winners, same for CY’s
kje76
Resume building accomplishments like the MVP/Cy are still resume builders. It’s not something that gets you in to the HoF, but it adds to the case as a whole.
ItsKirsten
The PED suspension makes hitting 500 irrelevant for anything other than personal achievement.
LordD99
Impactful hitter, but his case is hurt by more than just “round number” enthusiasts.
Rsox
The PEDs suspension hurt his HOF case much more than missing 500 Home Runs. There is no power left in his bat. If he truly cares about pursuing 500 he’ll take a minor league deal and work his way onto a roster but this is probably the end of the line
Knucksie
His PED suspension took care of his HoF chances already.
Shawn W.
When a high price player is released, he passes through waivers. But as Cruz was on a ‘cheap” $1 million salary for 2023, the fact that no team picked him up means that no team is interested. It wasn’t a money issue. Thus he may be done playing.
solaris602
Which means the White Sox have already contacted his agent.
acoss13
Hey now, the White Sox already have Elvis Andrus to fill the obligatory “tanked and out of gas” veteran role!
al080991
Hall of fame? dude took PED,S. He wasn’t going to get in if he hit 10,000 home runs.
waterdog311
Well, there is that…
Joshy
Now at ten thousand, I think a case could be made
rememberthecoop
Then how did Big Papi get in? And you think there are no PED users in the Hall?
kyredsox17
Because Big Papi was never proven to be a PED user.
Nocturnal
Big Papi’s name was on the list.
SharksFan91
Mainly because he was a Bosox player. Clemens will get in before Bonds for the same reason.
Hemlock
10,000 career HRs at 30 per year equals 333 1/3 years of playing time.
They don’t call it the Biogenesis Anti-Aging Clinic for nothing!
RockinRobin
Or 333 1/3 HRs per year for 30 years play time. 🙂
Gwynning
I will concede that Robin’s math is more… doable.
waldfee
Had a good career. Made over $134 million, including 15 years of service time, which means the full MLB pension of $250,000 annually. That should buy a nice fishing boat and a set of golf clubs.
Raysasineppswasplanted
But drop that final out in the WS…..
VincentChase
Agree Waldfee. This is why it is worth the risk of PED suspensions.
Still gets to keep the money (less the unpaid suspension).
Longtimecoming
And in 19 years he can apply for social security so he should be able to live on 250k + max SS.
I’m a fan of the pension but really, a guy made 134 million!
thefaithfulfriar
It was worth a shot. Thought him and Carpenter would have a little more left in the tank. We’re just gonna have to work it out. I’m sure that long green will work well for Nellie in the DR. Thank you sir
mcdonaldsmcgwire
Rangers need to sign him to throw batting practice.
MLBDR809
If Carlos Delgado is no a hall a famer, then nelly isn’t either.
ItsKirsten
delgado didn’t got whacked for PED’s either lol
Ted
Man, I forget that Delgado didn’t hit 500. Didn’t really arrive until he was 24 and was effectively done by 36.
PiratesFan1981
There are others like Dave Parker who aren’t in the hall either. World Series, MVP runnings, etc etc that most look at and he isn’t even been inducted. List of other players missing out on the Hall of Fame and had a stellar career, is phenomenal. The HoF is only a popularity contest anyways and means nothing anymore. Just wait, cheaters like Bonds will be on the Hall. Still amazed Larry Walker isn’t in
toptimrubies
Larry Walker is in…
LordD99
Parker had HOF skills, but he was a greatly diminished player the second half of his career. Perhaps his drug use contributed. Fine player, but I don’t view him as a HOFer, no matter how many times I look at his career with the intent to convince myself he is. Walker is in the HOF. Bonds isn’t. If it was simply a popularity contest, Dale Murphy would be in, but he’s not. It’s more difficult to be elected to Cooperstown than the Halls of all the major sports, and it’s more difficult to be elected today than in the past.
This one belongs to the Reds
I still say the cocaine scandal hurt Parker. Otherwise it makes no sense with his career.
PiratesFan1981
Then explain Nomar Garciaparra, Curt Schilling, Mo Vaughn, and so many more, are not in the hall of fame. But Bill Mazeraski, Tony Olivia, and Harold Barnes are in the Hall of Fame. You can’t tell me it’s not a popularity contest to get in the Hall of Fame. I think the Hall of Fame has written off some of the best players the game has ever seen, but added guys who may have just had one moment in their baseball career. It could be a walk off homer in game 7 of the World Series. The Hall of Fame is a joke and I stopped paying attention on who goes into the Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb was one of the dirtiest players ever to play the game. Honus Wagner was another one that that was dirty. Driving metal cleats into legs of players, pretty dirty to me. Both in the Hall of Fame due to their popularity with the writers.
Coys Bacon
I have never read anything about Honus Wagner ever being dirty. At all. He was the opposite of Cobb. A complete gentleman on and off the field. And for those times when barely educated players filled out the rosters. There was a big deal about a college player on the Cubs. These guys were one step away from the coal mines or worse. You read everything about Wagner from opposing players or writers. Nothing about him was ever considered dirty. Read Glory of their Times.
You’re just making stuff up or badly misinformed. This is a guy that when someone compared him to the best black SS in the Negro leagues. Oscar Robertson I think it was. Wagner said it was honored to be compared to him. Considering how backwards race relations were that’s the class this guy had.
Don’t even know what Cobb and his high spiking of players had anything to do with the HOF. He’s there for obvious reasons.
Before writers who voted on this started to figure out advanced stats there were going to be marginal players elected. Besides Maz played during most of his prime years in the 2nd dead ball era. And 2B were not expected to be offensive powers. Hornsby. Frisch. Morgan then Sandberg were outliers in that position.
I do agree it’s still an issue with who the writers like but that won’t stop them from voting in someone minus the obvious PED issues or violent crimes.
Tom Seaver got more 1st place votes than Aaron and I think Mays. I love Seaver but that was BS. But Seaver was great with the media. They loved him.
kje76
“Tom Seaver got more 1st place votes than Aaron and I think Mays. I love Seaver but that was BS. But Seaver was great with the media. They loved him.”
I never heard suggestions that Aaron and Mays weren’t great with the media.
My guesses on why Seaver would get more HoF votes than Aaron or Mays:
1) A gradual weaning out of the idiot writers who insisted that no player could get their vote on the first ballot.
2) The extremely obvious reason why older writers, the vast majority of whom were white, might vote for the white guy over two leading AA stars.
Coys Bacon
Was not implying that they did. It just showed how much more they loved Seaver because he was so personable with everyone. He worked for ABC during the playoffs except for 1979 season.
I do agree the not going to vote you in BS on the first ballot stuff. A lot of writers did that. For some reason not Seaver. But that was the only one I could think of was his great relationship with them.
I don’t think the old white guys not voting for black players was a reason. But sure I don’t know these guys personal feelings.
Both Aaron and Mays still had the 2nd highest 1st place votes. I just did not think Seaver deserved the highest. That’s all. Was not implying racial bias. The voting is still this way or has been. I wonder if Rose would have been 100 percent if he had not screwed it up.
dasit
bill james believes that mazeroski was the greatest defender at any position in mlb history. he’s worthy of the HOF
Hired Gun 23
Y’all think Carp is next? Or did he get a multi-year deal?
vincent k. mcmahon
Carp got 1yr w/ a player option.
LordD99
So multi year.
truthlemonade
If Carpenter is released now, would he exercise his player option and still get paid?
Hemlock
The player’s option on his contract holds no matter what decision the team makes. A contract is a binding agreement between two parties—client and employer—for the agreed to terms.
If they trade him, the option remains. If he gets DFA’d/released, it’s still a payable option. The player would have to exercise the option, but yes, it is still payable.
Hemlock
Note— If the contract has a team option, but the player chooses to retire, the retirement takes precedence, and the team cannot force the player to play that extra year or years. The same thing holds true with a player option. If the player retires, he cannot then execute his player option and collect that money.
Longtimecoming
Now the real question is if they DFA him (and should) and no one claims him, does he come to Peoria in February because he exercised his contractual right of opting into the 2024 season?
Obviously, he gets paid to stay home, but what if the guy wants to play. There is only one mlb and fans seem to forget that players want to play.
That is why Cruz signed for 1 million – it was his only chance to play the game at the mlb level and it wasn’t about money for him at that point.
If I’m Carp I show up in February.
Hemlock
Team DFA’s him
He exercises his 2024 player option to get paid
Contract ends there
2024 is a free choice
Signing team pays only MLB minimum
New salary deducted** from his 2024 player option
**His new salary would be deducted so that he cannot be paid more than whatever his original contract for 2024 entitled him to.
Hemlock
Receptionist: Nelson, Tony Bosch on line 1.
Nelson: Tooooooonnnnnyyyy! Why dont u return my calls? I neeeed some help.
Tony: Yeah, thassa no prollem buddy Imma hook you up. Tests cant detect this new cream & clear formula thats the Biogenesis garuntee
Gwynning
Your (perhaps intentional) misspelling of “guarantee” made me pronounce it like a backwoods bayou yokel. I like the forced phonetics lol
Hemlock
Mah axsints wurx much bedder inn purson!
Tony probably has no accent like that but I figured the last eight or so years haven’t been too kind to him so maybe things have changed for the better for him after a prison romance or two.
Datashark
If Cruz generated more walks with low AVG he might have garnered more interest outside HRs it would mean he could be slotted to at least have a good chance to get onbase. His stats show more liability at the DH when there are so many younger options.
YankeesBleacherCreature
He can’t walk anymore as pitchers are challenging him with strikes and successfully doing so. Can’t fix diminished bat speed.
VincentChase
***not legally, anyway.
DarkSide830
Juice can only do so much Nelson!
Raysasineppswasplanted
Time to hang’em Nelly, Elly the kid in Cincy is in….just saying
RockinRobin
1. Cruz is not a HOFer
2. At one time (25+ years ago) 500 HRs or 3,000 hits was a ticket to the HOF. Not anymore.
3. Cruz should have been a Brewer instead of a Ranger! Ha!
IjustloveBaseball
We have yet to see an eligible player — not connected to PEDs — with either 500 HR or 3,000 hits fail to reach the HOF. Both numbers remain very suggestive of a player’s hall chances.
Though I definitely agree that Cruz is not a HOFer.
Slider_withcheese
Could be a fit in St Louis after they trade Arenado
dasit
cardinals should sign him, host a ceremony celebrating his role in 2011 WS Game 6, then cut him
RoadRunner38!
Cruz will be picked up by someone!
miltpappas
So long, Cheaty McBride. Now just go home and stop embarrassing yourself.
FullMontilla
Tough way to end things, on someone else’s terms
CWeb555
Come on Twinkies have him be a hitting coach/player!
3768902
Twins offense has tanked since Papa Bear left. Bring him back as PT DH and full-time hitting coach
trs27
Gary Sanchez next PLEASE!
CrikesAlready
The Padres couldn’t keep him because they have so little depth everywhere. Their best shortstop is playing second base, their best second baseman is playing first base, yada, yada, yada.
Al Hirschen
Mets will take a flyer
mlbnyyfan
Rangers come calling for Cruz
RandalGrichuksStubble
Colorado. I mean, why not?
brooklyn62
They should. He’s the right age.
braves66
Test