Nelson Cruz revealed on the Adam Jones Podcast that he is planning to retire from playing after an upcoming stint in the Dominican Winter League.
Cruz, now 43, was something of a late bloomer but still went on to have an incredibly long and productive career in the big leagues. He didn’t fully establish himself as an everyday big league player until 2009. That was technically his “age-28 season”, but he turned 29 on July 1, just after the standard June 30 cutoff for such distinctions. He had some limited looks in the big leagues with the Brewers and Rangers from 2005 to 2008 but that 2009 season saw him bust out with 33 home runs and 20 stolen bases for Texas.
He would follow that with 22 and 29 home runs in the next two years, helping the Rangers reach the World Series in each campaign, though they ultimate lost on both occasions. He continued serving as a potent slugger for a time but that was put on pause when he was connected to the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal, receiving a 50-game suspension in August of 2013.
He reached free agency after that campaign and the Rangers gave him a qualifying offer of over $14MM, which he turned down. The draft pick forfeiture tied to that QO and his PED situation led to him lingering on the open market until late February, eventually signing with the Orioles for one year and $8MM, well below the QO he turned down.
He had a monster year for the O’s in 2014, launching 40 home runs and helping that club reach the American League Championship Series. The O’s then gave him a $15.3MM qualifying offer, as players were still allowed to receive multiple QOs at that time. The limit of one per career did not come into place until the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement. Cruz turned the QO down again but fared far better in this trip to free agency, landing a four-year, $57MM deal with the Mariners.
Though he had been an outfielder earlier in his career, he slid more into a full-time designated hitter role over the course of that deal with Seattle. The club likely didn’t mind as he continued mashing, with 163 home runs in that four-year span. He then continued to produce in a similar fashion after joining the Twins, launching 41 more homers in 2019 then 16 in the shortened 2020 season.
He was still crushing baseballs through the first half of 2021, but his production slid after a midseason trade from the Twins to the Rays. He signed one-year deals with the Nationals and Padres for the past two seasons but his offensive production slid to below par. Since he was into his 40s and limited to DH duties only, it became tougher to roster him and the Padres released him in July.
Cruz retires having played in 2,055 regular season games, hitting 464 home runs in that time. His finishes with a batting line of .274/.343/.513, which translates into a wRC+ of 128, indicating he was 28% better than the league average hitter. He made seven All-Star teams, won four Silver Sluggers, a Roberto Clemente Award and various other honors. He represented the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic on four separate occasions, winning the 2013 tournament. His Baseball Reference page indicates he earned over $140MM in his career. We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Cruz for his many accomplishments and wish him the best of luck for whatever awaits him in his post-playing days.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Noooooooooo!!!
I refuse to accept this
I was ready to post the same Nooooooo! I wanted him to go to Oakland and join then final days of Pompei.
*the final days of course
Problem with that is he cant hit Oakland pitching.
I don’t think you read that properly. He’d be playing for Oakland
What is notable about him was as a Mariner, he mashed in our stadium without skipping a beat. So many come to Seattle and their offensive stats take a hit. Not Nellie’s. Plus, he appears to be a hall of fame human being. Everyone in the organization and all the fans loved him.
PED’s
No, he did them once, got caught, did his time and that is that
I wanted too see 500 HR
Me too!
In related news, several PED suppliers announced going out of business sales
Have they though? Trout has been taking HGH for a decade now.
LOL nope
LOL YEPPP
He doesnt have an exemption. So he just magically passes the drug tests even tho you and other morons are so certain he takes HGH?
Trout’s one of the few legit heroes in the game today.
What a dumb take.
PEDa ruined his chance at the Hall. Shame because it became obvious after the fact he didn’t need em.
Or he never stopped.
In all honesty, I don’t Cruz is really a serious HOF contender even without considering PEDs. Only 2053 hits, zero top 5 MVP finishes , no WS rings. All he really has is homers and that along won’t get you in. Just ask Dave Kingman or Darrell Evans.
He had a great career, very similar to Jose Canseco, but like Canseco even if you ignore the PEDs, the numbers just are not there for the Hall.
May be true he only has homers but the media love him and that matters more to current hof voters than what they did on the field. Surt Cchilling Harold Reynolds
hiflew, razor: Curt Schilling is a HOFer whether he’s in the museum or not. Mentioning Dwight Evans and Dave Kingman in the same sentence is ludicrous. Kingman hit a lot of HRs but he was an absolute kluts in the OF. He gave away more runs than he got. Evans was a magnificent RFer and he was a good hitter. He was also very durable. To those who think defense alone can’t get you into the Hall, look up Ozzie Smith.
I believe he was referring to Darrell not Dwight
Actually, since he brought it up:
Darrell Evans: 58.7 Career WAR (bbref) and 119 OPS+
Dwight Evans: 67.2 WAR, 127 OPS+
Dave Kingman: 17.3 WAR, 115 OPS+ (-16.7 Career DWar)
Dave Kingman had 7429 Career PA’s, Dwight and Darrell were almost identical at 10,569 and 10,737
Nelson Cruz (8,396 PA’s): 42.2 WAR and 130 OPS+
So, really, Kingman is far and away the least “hall worthy” of the bunch.
Dwight is already in there, so the discussion is only about whether Darrell and Nelson Cruz belong….
Darrell and Dwight were both spent their careers in the field. According to bbref, neither one of them was very good out there (although I personally am not a huge fan of advanced defensive metrics). Suffice it to say, probably neither is a HOFer because of his glove, ala Ozzie Smith or even Brooks Robinson.
Nelson Cruz spent more of his time as a DH than anywhere else. Here is how he compares to a few Hall of Fame “Career DH’s;”
David Ortiz (10091 PA’s): 55.3 Career WAR, 141 OPS+
Harold Baines (11092 PA’s): 38.8 Career WAR, 121 OPS+
….and, just for the heck of it (because he was such a dramatically different hitter than Cruz that the comparison almost doesn’t work):
Edgar Martinez (8,674 PA’s): 68.4 WAR, 147 OPS+
After all of this, the only conclusion I can come to is that Cruz is very, very borderline for the Hall. He might be there one day, but the case for his enshrinement is not an obvious one like it was with Martinez or Ortiz. In fact, if he ever goes, he might be made to wait a very, very long time, like Harold Baines was (he is really only there because of longevity and counting stats…)
Edit: Oops. Dwight Evans is most definitely NOT in the HOF. I was thinking of Jim Rice…
PED’s never ruined his chance for the HOF.
Not reaching 2500 hits or 500HRs. Did.
I miss roids in the game. Good for taking the family to the game. You could sit in the 500 level and your son could still bring his glove to the game to catch a home run ball.
Buff: And you could explain to your son why it’s okay to cheat.
It ain’t cheating if you don’t get caught son. Just work on being just a little smarter than those in charge and you will make it through life just fine.
PEDs are the only reason anyone would consider him for the hall
~40 WAR career starting at age 28 is impressive but not HoF worthy. Good and well loved all the same, one of my favorite Mariners.
Minnesota should sign him to a 1-yr deal. He had his best stats in MINN
I heard somewhere he’s going to retire.
Source? 😉
Dude, it’s in the article. Learn to read.
Well that flew right over your head!
Yeah, no professional athlete has EVER announced their retirement, and then un-retired.
Its never happend! Not Favre, Not Jordan, Not Brady, nobody has ever un-retired, EVER!
I think we were all just playing, I was with my reply, which was aimed at Saint Nick. 🙂
Solid career, but not HOF worthy which am pretty sure some upcoming posts will be calling for. Hung around couple years too long probably as well.
One of the better DH’s last 15y.
If Harold Baines got in, you can’t really count anyone out. And if Harold Baines got in, why isn’t…. I’m starting with Thurman Munson.
Probably not a HOFer, but a damn respectable career. Had a chance to swing one of his bats when he was playing in Seattle. It was like swinging a tree… huge bat! Have to be crazy strong to swing something like that.
Sad to see him go, but it’s time. He’s had a better career than a whole slew of others, whether HOF worthy or not.
DHs usually have a hard time getting the necessary votes, and with good reason.
Edgar, Thomas, Baines, Ortiz; I think they played afew games as DH
A couple of those took a while to get in too. Ortiz was probably the only one mainly a DH the whole way. Even Edgar played 3B for a while.
Fitting he retired after he cost Texas a World Series title a decade ago.
Cruz on off into the sunset mon.
Dont let any of them PED naysayers stopya.
Just a little sip of ze juju juice and then they never stoppin wit the PED voodoo this and that onya.
ericm25
how convenient that he retires the day after the rangers win the world series that could have been their 2nd world series if he could have caught that ball in the 2011 series…he will be known for that missed catch or miss played easy catch. probably not a HOFer.
@hemlock
Are you 12? Is that an attempt of a written accent?
We love you Nellie. Thanks for the memories in Seattle!
Loved him with the M’s and his Boomstick! A joyful,fun guy to watch in the dugout and the clubhouse.
What a great career! Great gamer. One of the last players using the split-grip for batting. Kinda a late bloomer, but he kept it going well past others. He reminded me a lot of Manny in his hitting acumen; set up pitchers with the best of them.
The leather glove might have been a mystery to him, but he owned the batters box. Good luck to Nelson in his future endeavors. (I imagine he’ll be a hitting coach within 3 years somewhere).
Thanks Nelson, well played sir.
Adois, cheater.
Good luck Nelson!
Thank you, Nellie, Not only for your Hall of Fame career, but for all the younger baseball players you mentored and made better. Best wishes for whatever awaits you in your future.
Thanks for all the great memories, Boomstick.
we’re not going to mention that he dropped the ball and cost the Rangers a world series title? I still remember sitting by third base and watching him crush a grand slam in the ALCS. He wast hitting everything in the ALCS that year
The moonshot he hit off the Tigers’ Ryan Perry, a walkoff grand slam in the 2011 ALCS, has its own orbit. You can see it on a clear night if you use a high power telescope.
He’s had a solid career. The last few years he’s been thrown around between contenders.
respect for him, grateful for the season w the O’s. who did the QO pick turn into from the Mariners?
The current O’s first basement Ryan mountcastle, that Orioles draft included some great players that helped this season Mullins and mckenna.
it’s like… the rangers really burying the ghosts of 2011 after last night.
The dude didn’t start hitting well until he was about 28 period and then he was a monster..
Love seeing a juicer leave.
Nellie earned $140 million as a big leaguer. He should give half to Scott Coolbaugh.
Will always remember Nellie’s fat boy jump in the 2011 World Series.
Glad that ghost is gone.
The league retired Cruz when the Padres cut him last season. Solid but tainted career. At least the demons of the 2011 World Series have been exercised
Nice career. Hall of very good. Enjoyed watching you play! God Bless you!
I don’t know why everyone hates on the steroid era. All the best players from that era did them. It was part of the game then. I wish steroids were still blind eyed. Growing up watching Big Mac and the boys launch taters was super fun.
Cruz could bang like no else could. Solid dude with a great career and very good earnings. With 140 million in the bag I don’t think he cares that he got caught juicing, he kept hitting bombs even after being caught so he clearly didn’t need it.
Is there a changing undercurrent as to how we now view steroids users? Nelson Cruz admitted and served a suspension for this use. Barry Bonds never admitted nor was suspended for it’s use rather Bonds was convicted in 2011 of obstruction of justice in connection with a probe into his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. The conviction was first upheld by a three-judge 9th Circuit panel, then struck down by an en banc panel of 11 judges. He’s officially a baseball pariah. Bonds is out of eligibility for BBWA election into the Hall. Now Nelson Cruz is Mr. Nice guy and there’s talk of him being inducted??
Great career. A hitter you did not want to see in the ninth with a runner on and a one run lead. That being said, my deepest recollection was him playing right field for the Rangers in a WS clincher (2010?) when a routine, catchable two out fly ball in the ninth left him transfixed as the ball dropped behind him just short of the warning track..
Getz has a contract with Cruz’s name on it and empty blanks for salary and term, so unless Cruz wants to do stuff other than playing ball, he has at least one offer, and you know it won’t be the only one.
One of the most lovable Mariners to come through our organization. Hell of a hitter as well