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Here are three reasons I find myself warming up to Cruz (none of them are that his name is Nelson, although that is very good and important).
1. It's only a one-year guarantee
My main hold-up with the idea of signing Cruz was that he's a DH-only player who resides at the bottom end of the defensive spectrum, making him a restrictive presence on the roster. He'll be an everyday fixture, so long as he's healthy, so Rocco Baldelli pretty much totally loses his ability to use the DH spot for any other purposes.
Wanna take it easy on Sano's legs early on? If he plays, it's gonna have to be in the field. Wanna play all four of your (arguably) starter-caliber outfielders at the same time? Not really an option now. Wanna call up Brent Rooker because he's clobbering Triple-A, but there's no vacancy at first base or corner OF? Tough luck.
Cruz was reportedly seeking a two-year contract, and that just seemed impractical to me for a team in Minnesota's position, taking stock of its own uncertain assets. Especially so when you consider that Cruz is likely to decline, at least to some degree, as he approaches 40 years of age. But at one year, and at a downright reasonable cost of $14 million? With an even more reasonable team option attached? Who could really take issue with it?
In the event this team fails to take off, there's a fair chance Cruz will have enough deadline value to return a prospect or two, so the element of long-term upside is still there. And what I'm loving is that the Twins no longer appear to be planning for that event.
2. The Twins are demonstrating they want to win
During his August interview with Baseball Prospectus at Target Field, general manager Thad Levine somewhat downplayed free agency as an avenue for additions: "This might not be the perfect time for us to invest in a guy who’s 30 years old and would need to perform today in order for us to realize his true potential. We’re bullish on 2019 for the Twins, and we’re really excited for 2020 and beyond, for a variety of reasons."
Between remarks like that, and the Twins quickly filling their two most evident roster holes with a pair of castoffs from other organizations – albeit castoffs with considerable upside – I became resigned to this as a stand-pat offseason for the team, consisting of half-measures and stopgaps. Given the situation, and the number of uncertain (yet intriguing) pieces on hand, it made enough sense. The Twins would hardly be alone in following the "stagnant rebuild" model being employed by about half the league.
Cruz is a major pivot away from that path. Levine spoke of avoiding "a guy who's 30 years old and would need to perform today in order for us to realize his true potential," and Cruz is pretty much that, except he's 38. This is a win-now move through and through.
On one hand, there's minimal risk in any one-year contract. On the other hand, the Twins are making real sacrifices here, as a team in flux and with various moving parts. Levine and Derek Falvey are undoubtedly aware of the roster-building limitations of a 600-PA designated hitter, which I covered earlier. They are also aware that this move probably costs them Tyler Austin, an interesting slugger who might've figured into the club's plans beyond 2020. Cruz surely won't.
But ya know what? He's great enough, and the deal is good enough, that you accept those downsides. Cleveland is supposedly deep in talks to trade Corey Kluber, and this division looks ripe for the taking. With Cruz in their lineup, the Twins are far more legitimate threats on paper.
The signing sends a reinvigorating message to the current Twins players. (Don't believe me? Check their Twitter accounts.) And even more importantly...
3. It sends the right message to fans
This fan base has taken a beating. The past eight years have included five 90-game losers, including the worst Twins team of all time. Modest glimpses of hope in 2015 and 2017 were each followed by gut-punch backslides. We just had to watch the 2018 squad commit approximately 5 billion gaffes and miscues against the backdrop of "This Is How We Baseball" plastered on Target Field's outfield wall.
We needed a jolt. We got it. Once you brush past all the metrics and analysis, Nelson Cruz is simply a big-ticket player who generates tons of excitement, and is tremendously fun to watch. He leads baseball in home runs since 2014. He's been an All-Star five times in the last six years. He routinely ranks among the league leaders in exit velocity
This guy is an absolute phenom of the game, with a big and bright personality. That's the kind of infusion this team sorely needed to stir up some genuine enthusiasm.
There are other reasons to like the fit, including clubhouse impact (you'd be hard-pressed to argue that a 39-year-old Torii Hunter didn't make an impact beyond his numbers in 2015), but these are the three concrete reasons that have me feeling good about the move.
How 'bout you?
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