BREAKING: Nelson Cruz Agrees To Deal With Twins

Once again, I am shocked by something the Twins FO did, but this time pleasantly so.

This guy will be a fan favorite by Mid-June, if not earlier.

Then of course he'll be traded in July.

If Cruz is so good, why didn't Seattle resign him??

Have you been paying attention Seattle has been slashing payroll all winter.

While I've been beating the drum for acquiring longer term assets, I feel pretty good about this signing. A one or two year deal, for a very good to great player is better than the same deal for a mediocre player. If the core plays well, he's potentially helping a run to the playoffs. If not, they can deal him.

I hope they get a few pitchers now.

At the trade deadline they can get long term assets for cruz

I am luke-warm on signing Cruz. Does this mean the Twins are through adding position players?? If it does, I wish they would have rather signed a player who can play defense instead. We cannot have too many hit first players on the bench. What happens when one of our regulars goes down with injury, is ineffective or gets suspended, heaven forbid? We ideally should have 9 regular players fill 8 positions. When Escobar was on the Twins, he did not have a regular position for much of his tenure on the club, but yet played as much as anyone. Without one more starting caliber player that can play at least adequate defense, I fear we will be playing players like Adrianza more than desired. I would have preferred the Twins signed Marwin Gonzalez, who is good enough to be a regular, playing well any place you put him on the field. In this scenario, Austin would DH against lefties and they could rotate regular position players against righties.

Here's a link to a March 2018 Seattle Times article about his preparation. Seems he does everything he can to keep playing. Lots of sleep!

Not that history can always repeat itself... but the last time the Twins signed an older power-hitter to be their primary DH, it worked out pretty well, as Jim Thome helped power the Twins to their last AL Central Title in 2010.

Are you kidding me? This was a horrible signing. 14 million for a rental? Does anyone really think the Twins will compete now because we signed a declining 37 year old?

We needed pitching not some rental player. Unbelievable.

Well, if we can't get more pitching, Cruz can come in handy for more runs.

You'd rather have a guy that can play defense when this signing brings the guy with the most homers in MLB the past 5 years?  Man.  Even in a down year (so they say) Cruz hit 37 HRs and drove in 97 RBIs.  

You don't need such a good defense when you are scoring 5-6 runs a game. 

Twins added over 100 homers in Cron, Cruz and Schoop.  This addition to a team that hit only 160 throughout the whole lineup all last year.  Thank you FO. 

These are really savvy signings. 

If Cruz is so good, why didn't Seattle resign him??

Under this logic, every free agent signing would be a poor one.

In any case, Seattle has been shedding salary not adding it this off season.

Looks like with Schoop, Cron and Cruz we added 100 HRs to the lineup next year. Not sure yet who will be on base when they come up but....

Does this mean we lose a draft pick?

Cruz was my #2 pick for this team (after Machado) and really glad we got him. He's an absolutely perfect fit both for the lineup and for the locker room. His RH power should play up at TF (he's crushed the ball at TF, with a career .667 slg, second best park for him of any park he's played 10 games or more in).

Bingo!

Here's a link to a March 2018 Seattle Times article about his preparation. Seems he does everything he can to keep playing. Lots of sleep!

Reading that piece, I can’t help but immediately think of the positives effect he is going to have on Sano and Buxton. Just off the top of my head, he’s Dominican, has an incredible work ethic, positive attitude, a very impressive career, a conscientious eating regimen, and tee / hitting drills that specifically work on hitting sliders and power to all fields.

We needed a DH and we got one of the best bats available. I'm sure we'll still sign a pitcher or two but the rotation is probably set - Berrios, Gibson, Pineda, Odorizzi and Mejia are probably our starting rotation in April. The pen will get some additions.

Don't forget about Astudillo. He should be and needs to be on this team.

I agree he's is a solid piece, but he'll be in Rochester. Depth is a good thing.

He can take Joe's locker. Great value signing. Lots of power. Lots of leadership. Will help to get Sano's head on straight. Makes games much more interesting to watch as well...

If anything, we don’t have to face his bat this season. He seemed to hit Twins pitching pretty well.

I like this one a lot. Solidifies the DH spot and as one poster said, maybe provides a little veteran kick in the rear to some of the Latin players (read: Sano).

Twins added over 100 homers in Cron, Cruz and Schoop.  This addition to a team that hit only 160 throughout the whole lineup all last year.  Thank you FO.

Over 100 is a really optimistic estimate.  Cron hit 30 last year but 16 was his previous high.  Schoop hit 21 in a down year last year but most of his career was at Camden Yards, which from 2010-2016 produced 122 Homeruns for every 100 homeruns at an average park.  Cruz's homerun total has declined for three consecutive seasons.

Baseball-reference projects the 3 to combine for 74 homeruns.  Cruz 31, Cron 22, Schoop 21.  Steamer is a little better at 83.  Cruz 35, Cron 24, Schoop 24.

Good pickups though.  I like that 2020 is an option year for Cruz.

If Cruz is so good, why didn't Seattle resign him??

I'm guessing Seattle is in the rebuild mode. Seattle is an excellent example of why mid-market teams can't act like large market teams. Arizona is another. Give Jeter credit for moving Stanton.

If Cruz is so good, why didn't Seattle resign him??

Seattle is in major rebuilding mode.  Twins are in a weak division and can make playoffs with help of a very good 37 year old power hitter.  

Better than the money sitting in the Pohlad bank isn't it? They still have money for pitching they just need to spend it.

Calm down. The night is still young.

Does this mean we lose a draft pick?

No.  He was not attached to draft pick compensation as the Rangers and O's used the qualifying offer on him in 2013 and 2014 respectively, so the M's could not under the new CBA, which says that a player can only receive more then one QO in their career.

^{_{I like it.  What I'd like to see know is to cut ties with Austin, and Castro.}}

You'd rather have a guy that can play defense when this signing brings the guy with the most homers in MLB the past 5 years?  Man.  Even in a down year (so they say) Cruz hit 37 HRs and drove in 97 RBIs.  

 

You don't need such a good defense when you are scoring 5-6 runs a game. 

 

Twins added over 100 homers in Cron, Cruz and Schoop.  This addition to a team that hit only 160 throughout the whole lineup all last year.  Thank you FO. 

 

These are really savvy signings. 

Bingo!

For those concerned about spending on a veteran bat instead of pitching: I think this actually increases the probability they will invest in pitching this off-season.

In previous interviews about Cruz Falvey mentioned a trade off between the immediate upgrade he would bring vs. The opportunity to develop and audition young talent. If they took the slower approach there would be no need to sign a win-now pitcher. Committing to this year on offense means they now have a reason to sign playoff caliber starters and relievers, which they would not need if this was a rebuilding year.

What's the point of signing a top DH on a rebuilding team? That money is wasted if they don't create a pitching staff to match.

Not saying they will invest in this flight pitching, of course, or that if they do that it will happen this year. The second year option may give them a reason to wait and see how Buxton and Sano do first before committing any big bucks to 2019. But they have more reason to now than they did yesterday.

What's the point of signing a top DH on a rebuilding team? That money is wasted if they don't create a pitching staff to match.

If the team is winning, or in the verge, they have him for 2020. If they flop, he's trade material for more building blocks.

Worst case they are only risking 14.3M, out of revenue of $260+ million. This seems to offer upside in almost any scenario to come with very little risk. Unless you're a huge Austin fan I can't see much downside.

What a difference a day on the fan board makes. No doubt they will add a reliever with closing experience. I'm guessing they will trade for a 2/3. Look for much unhappiness when we trade some of our moderate prospects.

Thank the lord. The Twins needed this. Now let's get some help down in the pen