Dominican designated hitter Nelson Cruz reached an agreement with the San Diego Padresfor a season, returning to theMLBto play his 19th campaign.
Cruz finished the 2022 regular season with a .234/.313/.337 offensive line with 10 home runs and 64 RBIs. After not staying in thewashington nationalsreceived $3 million in compensation for being released.
Remember that Cruz works as manager of the Dominican Republic team that will be in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but he never wanted to hang up the spikes, announcing his retirement from the majors.
“I had a very slow start, with an upturn in the second month… but I was suffering from a vision problem, in the eye, which kept me out for the last three weeks of the season,” Cruz said on the Dominican radio program Sports Diamond.
Cruz underwent surgery to correct his left eye problems, something that greatly affected his 2022 season. Now, however, he is ready to add in San Diego.
Cruz will soon be 43, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Padres. And why would she? The veteran hitter played for the Washington Nationals in 2022 appearing in 124 games and posting a .234 batting average along with a .651 OPS.
In 2021, during which he split time between the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays, also at age 40, he hit32 home runsand notched 86 RBIs and an .832 OPS. Overall, in his 18-year professional career, he has hit 459 home runs, 1,302 RBIs and a .274 batting average.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the Padres can actually pull it off. As MLB Network’s Jon Heyman pointed out, San Diego is just one of multiple teams that had shown interest in his services.
However, the Padres have one advantage: They have a connection to Cruz. For those who don’t know, general manager AJ Preller was with Cruz before during his time with the Texas Rangers.
A native of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic, Cruz’s 459 career home runs are 39th all-time and only Miguel Cabrera (507) has more among active players.
A seven-time All-Star, Cruz has also dressed for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, and Tampa Bay Rays.
In his 18-year major league career, Cruz has been named an All-Star seven times. He has played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, Twins, Rays, and Nationals. He’s finished in the top 15 in AL MVP voting six different times. He is a four-time American League Silver Slugger and was named American League Championship Series MVP as a member of the Rangers. With the Rangers, Cruz won back-to-back American League pennants in 2010 and 2011.