While observing how he changed jerseys and cities during the 2002-06 period, Juan Carlos Cruz proposed having a Plan B as a precaution in case baseball ever played a “trick” on him, leaving him with a stable and sheltered economy. for him and his.
The former pitcher knows that in life, as in baseball, the unforeseen are part of everyday life and nothing can be taken for granted, which is why saving was one of his first guidelines to follow, while he tasted the sweetness of the big stages of the game .
Although the foundations were laid from the initial months of his first agreement with the Cubs, on July 4, 1997, it was not until 2004 when, among the various movements, he coincided with Julio Franco in the Braves, who as a veteran finally welcomed him and gives you some tips on strategies for what to do with the money saved from your payments.
The Emperor’s Advice
“Look if it earns little money and by chance you have something left over, when you go to the Dominican Republic you can buy a couple of “improvements” to start, at a low cost, remodel them and thus you can sell them and reinvest your money and to the extent that If you sign a good contract, you can increase those purchases and after a while you will be rewarded,” the so-called Emperor, already 45 years old, just 20 years older than Cruz, would have told him.
Facade of one of the apartment complexes built by Juan Carlos Cruz in his native Bonao. He has a large amount after graduating as a master builder.
As a good student he took the hound, he also sought guidance from Juan Encarnación, the former outfielder who has played for various teams and who has been successful in the real estate business, with whom he spent several days in conversations. Also with Octavio Dotel.
Prior to those conversations, I already had some savings, for example in 2003, being a member of the Cubs who beat the Braves in the Division Series, whose pay was about $70,000 and he exchanged them at the high rate that existed for the time and this, according to the Listín Diario, was a great support to begin with.
Already after retiring in 2012 and registering a record of 38-36 and a 4.05 ERA with the Pirates, his last club in the Major Leagues, he had a “made shoe” economically and a bit of knowledge about how to start a real estate business in his native Bonao.
To study construction master
Hanging up the spikes and putting away his clothing, he remembered that he had only reached a seventh grade, he evaluated himself and expressed that if he started a new chapter in his life he had to educate himself and learn his new profession.
He decides to take a construction master’s course of about six months, in Santiago, he attended on Sundays, in order to strengthen what he would have already undertaken. He put so much effort into it that at the end of it his grade had been a solid 90.
Today, the former monticulista, who was first a truck driver in Bonao, before practicing baseball, is the head of Constructora JC, a structure that builds apartment complexes and houses in both Bonao and Santiago.
The constructions that he carries out are already countless. “I buy plots, houses in poor condition, remodel them and carry out works,” she says by phone.
Cruz feels blessed to wake up every morning and be able to attend the structure he built, stability has reached him and most importantly knowing that he will leave a legacy to his four children Juan Carlos Jr, Jordanny, Yassil and Jeylin.
following in his footsteps
It currently has an engineer, a master builder, who is in charge of looking for employees, sometimes there are as many as 40 who work in the various housing projects.
The construction company serves as a platform for Juan Carlos Jr, his eldest son, who is a civil engineering student at Ucamaima and the former pitcher affirms that when he graduates he would be with him in charge of the business.
Cruz is a genuine example for his colleagues, because despite the fact that Baseball Reference records him having earned just over 13 million dollars in an 11-year career.