Major League Baseball announced that former big leaguer Nelson Cruz has been hired as a consultant to the league, with the full title of special advisor for baseball operations. “Cruz will serve as a liaison for MLB on a range of issues,” the press release states, “focusing primarily on topics in Latin America, including the Dominican Republic and growing MLB’s existing player relations function.”
Cruz, 43, recently retired as a player. He had spent almost two decades as one of the most threatening power bats in the sport. From 2005 to 2023, he hit 464 homers, suiting up for the Brewers, Rangers, Orioles, Mariners, Twins, Rays, Nationals and Padres. He also frequently represented the Dominican Republic in international play, participating in the World Baseball Classic in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2023. He was the general manager for the D.R. team in the most recent tournament.
By playing for so long and bouncing around to so many teams, Cruz has crossed paths with far more people in the sport than the average baseball player, which seems to have endeared him to many. “Nelson Cruz is a respected voice in the game whose outstanding service to young people and those in need in the Dominican Republic earned him the Roberto Clemente Award,” says commissioner Rob Manfred in the press release. “Nelson is passionate about growing the game and improving issues for players and our sport as a whole. He will be a resource to many people across our game, especially in the Dominican Republic.”
Cruz himself seems excited about the opportunity. “I’m extremely happy to join Major League Baseball,” Cruz said as part of the announcement. “Since I signed out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, I’ve cared deeply about the issues affecting that country, and the game as a whole. I’m excited to work with the Commissioner’s Office and the opportunity to work with young players by sharing what I have learned since I signed in 1998.”
Shortly after announcing his retirement in November, it was reported that Cruz had been hired by the Dodgers for an advisory role. It’s unclear if this new role will prevent him from working for the Dodgers or if he will be holding both jobs simultaneously. Either way, it’s clear that Cruz is interested in staying involved in the game as he moves into the post-playing phase of his life.
PED comments incoming…
Yes.
Well, it’s not like he didn’t get busted for them. Single-handedly knocked Detroit out of the playoffs twice because of them. Yet MLB sweeps it under the rug and they act like he’s some great leader. He’s a cheat. If Cano, Braun, etc got caught after MLB implemented testing and won’t get in the Hall, we shouldn’t paint Cruz to be this future Hall of Famer who never did anything wrong. I dare say that when he knocked Detroit out of the playoffs the first year of the Wild Card Round, he stopped a Detroit dynasty. I think Detroit could’ve beat the Giants and Scherzer wouldn’t have left, the team wouldn’t have started losing, and they wouldn’t have traded Verlander.
He single handedly knocked Detroit out of the playoffs? Really????
Only from the ignorant. If you knew the whole story, you wouldn’t bring them up.
Juice Bar Attendant?
So in the last year he has hired John Coppolella and Nelson Cruz.
liaison for the office of MLB’s drug testing program?
Well, he knows all the shortcuts (allegedly).
It’s fine for MLB to hire him, but his PED suspension should absolutely be mentioned in the story. Time doesn’t make it go away.
He didn’t molest a kid or beat his wife ffs
He’s actually a great person who has given a lot of money away and a lot of his time as well helping others. Look it up.
“He’s actually a great person”…Do you know him personally?…You sound like a guy who would defend anybody(as long as they’re a celebrity or celeb-athlete), sight unseen.
He’s given away money and his time to numerous charities. He has won awards for this behavior. Those are facts not opinions.
Now did you know that before I told you? Of course you didn’t. Now you do. And instead of acknowledging it you accuse me of celebrity worship. Nice……
“Of course you didn’t”..You probably never had an original thought that didn’t come from a celebrity or the Main Stream media, right pink?…You probably hide under your bed at night, in fear of “climate change”, am I right?
No. You are not right lol. I don’t know where you come up with this stuff.
Numerous people are saying Cruz is a cheater. I said some things to defend his character which were 100% TRUE and now you are weirdly attacking me.
I want people to be fair. To see things for what they actually are. That’s all.
Consider: Two different things can both be true.
We are too lazy to look it up
Who is we? You don’t speak for anyone else but yourself.
But but but astro fans are constantly saying how their ws champion cheaters should be forgiven bec its been so long. it happened ages ago, centuries ago
@Johnny Utah you are that guy that brings up anything unrelated, just so you can have attention. Did you want to mention LeBron, Trump, or anything else that’s not relevant as well?
At least PED users serve their time. Unlike some other cheats
If you knew the whole story behind the PED, you wouldn’t put two cents into worrying about it. But go off and spat envy and hatred while being willfully ignorant.
Was great to see him retire as a Mariner on opening day!
I wonder if he will help all of the young Latin American players with their “nutrition.”
You have to consume a VERY “nutritious” “diet” to be vastly better in your late 30s and early 40s than you were in your 20s, so start them early!
Why do you care?
Why do YOU care if I care? And do I actually care? Or am I just s***posting for the lulz?
The world may never know…
Nelson Cruz took steroids because he had lost 40 pounds coming off an injury and wanted to get back to his playing weight. He admitted it and went on to play for another decade and play great while never again failing another drug test. He’s also done a TON of work for charities and given a LOT of money away. He has won awards for this.
Look him up. If you care…….
Sorry bro, but you aren’t going to convince me that he wasn’t “enhancing” himself when he was absolutely bludgeoning the best pitchers in the world almost a decade after players generally begin to decline, and at a rate that FAR exceeded his body of work from his physical prime. Testing always has been and always will be years behind the tech available to those who want to cheat and remain undetected (and also have the means to do so, unlike the young Latin American players who regularly get busted because they cannot afford the high end designer PEDs like the high paid vets can), so the “he didn’t test positive” argument does not carry much weight here, IMO.
If he was able to cheat the tests as easily as you say then wasn’t everyone else in MLB able to do the same thing?
You sure ignored all that other stuff I said.
No, I did not, it just isn’t all that relevant. He gave an excuse for why he got caught using a banned substance? Cool, but so does every other guy that gets popped for PEDs. He does a lot of charity stuff? Great, really, but I never accused him of being a serial axe murderer or anything truly reprehensible like that.
If you want to believe that he was a significantly better player at 38/39 years old than he was at 28/29 without any chemical help, you are absolutely free to do so. Don’t let me stop you.
It was a pretty good excuse. And no not all the guys who got caught offered up an excuse. Tatis did but it was a complete lie that’s not the same thing at all.
I believe that guys who get caught cheating once are under a bigger microscope than others. I also believe there is context which should always be considered. I don’t believe Nelson Cruz knew anything that the rest of the league didn’t know.
“Why do YOU care if I care”..Woodhead cares because he’s one of the people that think celebrities and celebrity-athletes are above criticism.
Who are you to judge which PED excuses are to be believed and accepted, and which aren’t? As I recall, the substance Tatis tested positive for is generally considered to have very little or no performance-related value, which it could be argued makes his claim that he took it unknowingly a lot more believable since he probably would have used something much more effective if he was trying to gain some kind of advantage. And pretty much everyone laughed at Rafael Palmeiro’s excuse that his positive test must have come from some vitamin B12 he got from teammate Miguel Tejada, but then Tejada later got busted for PEDs himself, so should we retroactively believe and exonerate Palmeiro, and put him in the HOF, where he was undoubtedly heading for prior to his positive PED test? I don’t know, but it seems fairly arbitrary to take one person’s word as gospel while discarding others when it all more or less boils down to a “please believe me.”
Ever since PED testing began in earnest in the mid to late 00s, it has been an open secret that the testing technology is always chasing from behind and never leading, and it isn’t an issue exclusive to MLB. If all of the major sports leagues kept test samples on file and re-tested them with newer, more sophisticated tests a decade or two down the line from when they were originally collected and analyzed, I am willing to bet that we’d all be pretty shocked by some of the names that get pinged.
I don’t judge all PED excuses. Two were discussed Cruz admitted it point blank so there is nothing to discuss there. Tatis was caught in a lie he blamed it on a drug that had a similar name this wasn’t ever really talked about but it was clear proof he was lying. Look it up the information is out there.
I don’t pretend to know if people have been cheating the last 10 years. What I said was if Cruz knew how to cheat then so did everyone else and if everyone was cheating then is it still cheating? I don’t think Cruz has any special knowledge that allowed him to cheat when others were playing fair.
Cruz cheated because he was 40 pounds lighter than his typical playing weight and was trying to gain it back before the season started after he was injured. That’s why he did it. He said so
If it is a question? then i think the answer to your first question is up to woodhead1986. I think the second question is rhetorical. And your extra s***posting is exactly what you claim it to be. “The world may never know…” is on you. Sorry, just stoned and had one of those moments when you had an answer to everything and thought maybe you should post it on a random baseball trade rumors site. Carry on. 😉
I don’t have a horse in this race but the whole, “never tested positive” trope shouldn’t be used. Neither did Armstrong, Hincapie, Bonds, Clemens, et. al.
“He said so”
After he was caught and publicly outed.
You’ll have to forgive me if I am still compelled to consume a grain or two of salt with his excuse (and the video game-esque numbers he put up in his late 30s/early 40s).
Like I said though, if you do not find it remotely suspicious that a guy previously caught red-handed using PEDs was putting up numbers in his late 30s and early 40s that were far better than what he produced in his 20s, that’s fine. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to feel differently.
IKTF, nonchalanto.
IKTF.
I am sure it could be proven he was 40 pounds lighter than his typical playing weight. And he admitted to doing it he didn’t lie about it he admitted it point blank.
I think a lot of things are suspicious. I am pretty sure players who are caught have to go through more strict testing the rest of their careers. I don’t believe it’s impossible for players to improve as they age. Paul Goldschmidt won the MVP at age 34. I don’t believe he was using or doing anything that everyone else wasn’t doing.
Putting up a .981 OPS at age 34 is not the same as OPSing a combined 1.020 in your age 38 and 39 seasons. I’m sorry, it just isn’t.
And “he [allegedly] came clean after he had already been busted” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of someone’s credibility or trustworthiness. Again, I’m sorry, it just isn’t.
Like I said before though, you are 100% free to believe whatever you like, as am I. We do not agree on this subject and that’s okay.
One of those seasons was the covid season. It wasn’t even a full typical season.
I don’t need to rely on his credibility we have drug testing. To say Cruz was cheating and acting as if others weren’t is ridiculous.
“One of those seasons was the covid season. It wasn’t even a full typical season.”
It was 200+ PAs and his production that year was almost exactly in line with his 500+ PAs from the year before. He then put up another 30+ bombs the following year at age 40.
“I don’t need to rely on his credibility we have drug testing”
I already explained why the “no positive test” argument is weak. More than once.
“To say Cruz was cheating and acting as if others weren’t is ridiculous.”
I literally said the exact opposite:
“Ever since PED testing began in earnest in the mid to late 00s, it has been an open secret that the testing technology is always chasing from behind and never leading, and it isn’t an issue exclusive to MLB. If all of the major sports leagues kept test samples on file and re-tested them with newer, more sophisticated tests a decade or two down the line from when they were originally collected and analyzed, I am willing to bet that we’d all be pretty shocked by some of the names that get pinged.”
So Adley Rutschman is a cheater then right? I figured he was…..lol……
Again if all players cheat is it really cheating? And if that’s the case then why are you singling out Cruz?
I watched a lot of games during Matt Hollidays prime seen him up close and personal on many occasions since I have been to over 300 Cardinal games and me and him are the same age. He looks like a guy who does steroids he was built like a tank. Hopefully for your sake he shares some of that hidden sauce with his kids.
Or maybe he’s just a hard worker…..
“If all players cheat…”
Please don’t put words in my mouth. Thanks. Also, for the third or fourth time now, you feel one way about this subject and I feel another, and there is nothing wrong with that. It happens.
Now, since I have already expended far more time and energy on this topic than I had originally planned to, I am going to move on, but before I do, I’d be remiss if I did not point out that if Nellie had not cheated the first time, we would not be having this conversation at all. His bad decision permanently sullied his professional reputation and cast legitimate doubt over all of his on-field accomplishments, and he has absolutely no one to blame but himself for that.
People like you have really ruined this site, super cool thanks
Get over yourself fella. Nobody is forcing you into any discussion here.
Get a life
Tough times, indeed when guys need two jobs jus to pay the bills… But I get it, groceries cost at least $1,000 per day.
A thousand dollars a day for groceries? What are you eating?
@Drew Waters Bat
Only the best food. I thought everyone wanted the best? No?
r/wooooosh
He’s given away a lot of money to charity and philanthropic causes. Perhaps that’s why he needs 2 jobs.
He must have a dang good CPA. When they make so much money they need to donate a lot. Visiting hospitals can be a write-off from the raxes.
Are you saying he donates his time and money to charity for the tax write offs????
Lol sure fella……
Bad optics to make a PED guy an advisor and ambassador of the game. Shows young kids that illicit activities do not affect future employment
Do some research on the man. He’s actually a great person who has done a lot to help others less fortunate. He has won awards for this. Look it up.
Blackpink, fess up… you’re Nelson Cruz aren’t you?
Hey people know about the failed steroid test obviously. I bet they didn’t know about all the other stuff. I didn’t before today I just looked it up.
Knowledge is power my friend.
His off the field work has been great and deserves to be recognized. However, I would prefer MLB hire an advisor without ties to an on-field scandal.
JFK and MLK are generally regarded as American heroes.
They still cheated on their wives.
Ignorance at its finest. All this information at your finger tips and fools still choose to be blind.
Padres legend
You shouldn’t be allowed to whine about PED users unless you can beat them in a fight
Or at least strike them out…
HALL OF FAME!!!
HALL OF FAME!!!
HALL OF FAME!!!
“Hall of fame”…It won’t be long before the media opinion manufacturers and their millions of pro-celebrity sycophants begin pushing Cruz for the Hall of Fame.
Well David Ortiz is already in the HOF sooooo
“Well David Ortiz is already”…There’s millions of people in America that think minorities are inferior beings and cannot meet the normal standards, so they LOWER the standards(in education, employment and behavior) for them under the guise of “helping them”, which creates a caste system of lower-tiered and lowered political rights individuals.
Um, what?
David Ortiz’ head grew the most while in the bigs. And he even admitted getting busted for PED.
“David Ortiz’ head grew”…Alex Rodriguez called out David Ortiz for PED cheating, wondering why he was prosecuted and vilified while “Big Papi” was not. Apparently they had PED dealers/suppliers in common.
With 7 plate appearances, he will always be a Milwaukee Brewer to me! Ha!
For me I’ll always remember him for his gold glove defense in the World Series against the Cardinals.
Yeah Cardinal fans know the Rangers were a catchable ball away from winning that series.
THAT WAS A TOUGH ONE BLACKPINK
As a Ranger fan, I forgive him for his Game 6 blunder. I remember that he became Barry Bonds in the playoffs that year. (Yeah… The irony that happened after.) He deserved the name “Boomstick” only when he got hot.
Barry Bonds in the Hall!
Cheaters never win.
They get to keep playing and making millions of dollars while dating models and getting prominent post-playing career positions in the sport or the media covering it, also often making millions of dollars.
But, they never win.
Boomstick 23 foundation. Look it up. Nelson Cruz won the Roberto Clemente award in 2021. Again look it up if you need to. It’s not an award for dating the most models……
We should’ve strung him up, maybe drawn and quartered him, right? I mean he cheated at baseball and that makes you angwee
Nice strawman, but there’s a pretty wide gap between stringing him up and you slobbing his knob.
There might not be a better guy in all of baseball. I got to work closely with Nelly for 3-4 years. Truly a one-of-a-kind man. Keep him around baseball! It’ll only benefit the sport and the league!
I agree. It was more fun when hitting home runs were so easy. I am all for him being the head of PED testing!
I authorize this only if The Boomstick is hired as the special assistant to the special assistant.