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Report: Nelson Cruz Close to Signing W/Seattle

By Alan Carpenter

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ESPN’s Enrique Rojas is tweeting a Dominican Republic newspaper’s report that free agent slugger Nelson Cruz is about to agree to a 4 year, $57 million deal with Seattle.

Details from the source article (in Spanish) appear to suggest these details:

  • Their source is being withheld as the agreement is not yet official
  • The last detail may be regarding a fifth year (option?)
  • There is a signing bonus involved (reported to be $1 million – unclear if this makes it a $58m deal)
  • Cruz is expected to leave the D.R. soon to get his physical done
  • The Orioles had been involved in pursuing Cruz, but only up to 3 years.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick is confirming this report:

Cruz is already 34-1/2 years old.  A 4-year contract isn’t out of the question, but a fifth-year option would be a little surprising, though it is possible that Seattle might have to include this to get a deal done.

Implications to Atlanta

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    • If this report is indeed accurate, then there are some ramifications to the Braves as they continue to reshape their own club:

    • The contract would be for an average annual value of $14.25 million – which is under Justin Upton‘s price for 2015… never mind whatever his next deal might end up being.
    • It isn’t clear at this time whether Cruz would play LF, RF, or DH for Seattle.  Incumbants at those outfield positions are Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders (et al).  Cruz would represent a positional upgrade (offensively) for any of these spots.
    • Could Seattle use another bat after Cruz?  Short answer is “yes” – and the most logical upgrade now would be at Catcher.  In our context, that means Evan Gattis.
    • Would they go crazy and go after both Gattis and Justin Upton now?  They could, but they won’t… such a deal would decimate their farm system, requiring probably a half-dozen players.  So let’s just not go there.

    But to repeat a bit:  if this goes through, then the weakest Mariners’ position would be Catcher, and Evan Gattis would be the logical choice for them, as he provides both the bat and the positional flexibility (DH or Catcher) that they could use.  But after this expenditure, I would not expect them to pursue Justin Upton.

    Nonetheless, getting Cruz to sign represents a large domino falling in this off-season hot stove game:  the market has just been tightened, and the Braves still have two of the best available hitters waiting on the shelf.

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