With the Winter Meetings well underway, signings and reports
are flying in from every direction. The Minnesota Twins made their initial
splash with the acquisitions of Johnathan Schoop and Ronald Torreyes. Now
having the middle infield gaps covered, some thump in the lineup can be addressed.
Rocco Baldelli’s projected starters have plenty of power at their disposal, but
none look the part of true on-base threats. Nelson Cruz would change that.
On Tuesday evening Hector Gomez reported that the two teams
left vying for the services of the former Seattle Mariners DH are the Twins and
Tampa Bay Rays. Cruz hits the market as a 38-year-old that will be playing 2019
at the age of 39. Despite nearing his forties, there doesn’t yet appear to be
much slowdown in terms of production. During 2018 with Seattle, Cruz watched
his average dip to .256 (a career low), but it was bolstered by an .850 OPS and
37 homers.
There wasn’t ever a point in his career that Cruz was an
ideal outfielder, but at this stage in the game he’s become a full time DH.
Luckily with the Twins, there’s no need for him to ever be inserted into the
outfield. On the premise of his bat alone, Cruz is among the most intriguing
names for Minnesota to consider offensively. Dating back to 2014, he’s hit no
less than 37 longballs, and he’s had a .356 OBP over that stretch.
Right now, Jorge Polanco looks destined to be the leadoff
hitter for Baldelli, and some combination of Miguel Sano, C.J. Cron, and Eddie
Rosario will fill out the top half of the lineup. That group has plenty of
ability to lose balls in the seats, but Polanco’s .325 OBP over the past two seasons
paces them. As baseball has trended towards the launch angle revolution, and
adaptation for power, a remaining necessity to get on base is ever present.
Even if everything breaks right from a homer standpoint for the current Twins
group, there stands a reasonable expectation that many of them could be hollow,
solo shots.
It’s not just on-base skills that make Cruz an ideal
candidate to join the Twins clubhouse, however. As a veteran who has not bounced
around, he’s been someone that no doubt displays a certain presence within the
clubhouse. Minnesota has been big on veteran leadership surrounding their young
and upcoming stars in recent years, but that role has often been filled with
aging players offering little value (Torii Hunter, Matt Belisle, etc.). In Cruz,
Baldelli gets a Spanish speaking veteran than can lead by example for many of
the impressionable minds he’s looking to mold. Doing so by example on and off
the field must have a bit more merit.
There’s little doubt that Cruz is approaching the end of his
time as a professional ballplayer. Whether that means three years or five
years, age always wins out. At this point in time there isn’t much reason to
believe the production will dip, and that should calm any fears of agreeing to
a one- or two-year deal. He’ll get paid a hefty sum, but with the open cash
flow that the organization has, there will still be plenty of dollars to
allocate towards pitching.
Whether this pact gets done while the Twins contingent is in
Las Vegas or not remains to be seen, but it would be hard to swallow a scenario
in which Minnesota was just “in the hunt” again. There’s not going to be a long-term
commitment here, and the dollars won’t be a showstopper. There’s a serious fit
from multiple angles, and a deal is something Derek Falvey and Thad Levine
should be adamant about.
